Riding a horse from the wharf rushed through the street, not caring to see the people on the street who cleaned up the garbage and stone slabs with brooms and clean water, Zheng Zhihu whipped down, the four hooves of the war horse struck a spark on the bluestone slab, and more than a dozen personal soldiers behind him carried fire guns on their left shoulders and long knives on their right shoulders, and they were majestic in the envious eyes of everyone on Xiamen Island.

This small horse team arrived in front of the Five Tiger Guerrilla General's Mansion, Zheng Zhihu jumped off the horse, and some soldiers took the reins over and tied them to the tethered horse stone, Zheng Zhihu naturally didn't care about this, he just walked straight into Zheng Zhilong's study with his head held high.

"Big brother, big brother!"

"I went to the Huli Mountains, and it was a good place, a great place to build a fort, and if we set up a cannon there, and build a fort, then all the sea in this area would be under the muzzle of our cannons! ……”

He was chattering about his own affairs there, not realizing that the faces of Zhilong and Zheng Zhibao in the study were wrong.

"Brother!"

It was still Zheng Zhibao who spoke out to stop Zheng Zhihu's loud noise.

"Something's wrong! Big brother is in a bad mood! ”

Zhihu was a little confused, and he asked Zhibao in a low voice, "What's wrong?" ”

Zhibao didn't say much, took a few pages of letter paper on Zhilong's table, and handed them to Zhihu, "Look at it yourself." ”

Zhihu took the letter with suspicion, unfolded one of them and read it aloud.

"My brother sent 100,000 catties of fine wrought iron and 5,000 steel spearheads today. 500 firearms, 500 iron and steel knives, for my brother to train soldiers and soldiers to reorganize the soldiers and horses, a few days ago sent to the waters of Duyan Island fifteen big fortune boats, seven small blessing boats, have all been left for the younger brother, the younger brother ship is few and sparsely populated, I hope my brother forgive me. ”

What kind of Fu boat was detained, but he didn't pay too much attention to Zhihu, his eyes just stayed on the 100,000 catties of good iron and spearhead fire gun steel knife.

"That's a good thing! 100,000 catties of wrought iron. Five thousand spearheads. 500 iron knives and 500 fire guns, enough for us to change the guys in our hands for the brothers below! ”

"That's not what I said."

Zhibao slowly explained the reason for the matter to Zhihu.

On that day, several small boat owners of Zheng Zhilong's gang had been coveting the wealth of the Nanzhong Army. However, due to the strong firepower of the South Chinese Army, they did not dare to make a mistake. It just so happened that several merchants who knew each other asked them to go to Nanzhong to trade together. Purchase grain, ironware, oilseeds, cloth and other goods.

Under the temptation of lucrative profits. A few small boat owners gladly went, and together with the Cantonese merchants, they formed a large fleet to trade in Nanzhong.

No, these guys are too greedy. The huge price difference between the industrial products produced in the territory of the South China Army (mainly ironware, cloth, sugar, etc.) and the merchants of the mainland, Fuso, and Furang Ji could not satisfy their desires. Not to mention privately sending people to redeem industrial coupons in the hands of peasants for the purchase of various industrial products, they even wanted to leave without filing tax returns?

"Where can you get away with that?! All of a sudden, people and ships with goods were all detained by Li Shouhan. I sent a letter to my eldest brother, and the steel, swords, and guns you saw were considered reparations, but neither the man nor the ship were put back. A few small boat owners were still crying and crying at the eldest brother's place, asking the eldest brother to call the shots for them and get the boats, people, and goods back. ”

"Phew! I'm my mother! When they went to Nanzhong to make a fortune, why didn't they remember to tell their eldest brother? Now that the water is flooding, the wind has lost but you have come to find the eldest brother?! There are still such cheap things in the world, let them call me next time! ”

"Big brother, I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing."

Zhihu's words made Zhilong and Zhibao suddenly excited, and the two brothers fixed their eyes on Zhihu's face in unison.

"This, big brother, I'm not a sister-in-law, don't look at me like this, okay?"

Zhihu's banter made the dull atmosphere in the room laugh suddenly, and with the laughter of the three people, Zheng Zhilong's wife Tian Chuan, with seven or eight maids, brought them snacks with fluttering clothes and a burst of fragrant wind.

Mille-feuille cake, swallow skin soup, Dili cake, etc., are all Fujian flavors, sweet, salty, hot and cold, and the three brothers don't say much, each holding a bowl.

After finishing the snack, Zhilong put down the bowl in his hand and signaled that Tagawa could retreat with the maids, Tagawa bowed down and gave a deep salute to her husband and two little brothers-in-law, and withdrew with the maids, not forgetting to gently close the door for the three of them when leaving.

"Who are the owners?"

Zhihu wiped his mouth and asked his younger brother Zhibao in a low voice.

"Yes......"

Zhibao whispered several names, all of whom were small boat owners in their maritime gang.

In the past, the bandits have been a collection of various armed gangs, whether it is the chief scoop or the big boss, in fact, they are all similar to the status of the alliance leader, and there is also a strong independence among the small armed gangs. If you are in agreement, you will come and go, and often the big bosses will not be able to stop such behavior for the sake of their own reputation and show their bearing. (Regarding the relative independence of the armed gangs, you can take a look at Mr. Yao Xueyin's lesser-known novel "The Long Night", which describes the events in the Henan bandit gangs in the twenties, which is very true, because Mr. Yao personally experienced it.) There are many details in it, which were later used by him in the creation of "Li Zicheng". And the manifestation of this independence, the most obvious in modern history is the Twist Army, the various flags have no subordinate relationship with each other, that is, Zhang Lexing, who is known as the leader of the Twist Army, is only because of his prestige and call on everyone to give him face, he can be regarded as a convener and coordinator. His military orders could only be used in the Yellow Banner formed by his Zhang family.

Zheng Zhilong's gang is no exception, although they have accepted Zhao'an now, everyone has official positions. However, many small boat owners still disobeyed Zheng Zhilong's orders, and if they cooperated, they did not listen to them.

Unfortunately, these shipowners, who had suffered heavy losses, were all at odds with Zhilong, and they also had open and secret dealings with another sea pirate leader, Liu Xiang, in private.

"That's a good thing! Li Shouhan slashed the first knife for us. Why don't you want the lives of these guys, I'm sorry for Li Shouhan! The muscles on Zhihu's face twitched for a while, and his face looked a little hideous.

In June of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Zheng Zhilong, a guerrilla general of the Five Tigers of the Ming Dynasty, passed down an order, and the officers at all levels above the general department went to the guerrilla general's mansion to discuss the construction of forts.

For a time, officers above the rank of lieutenant general in the Zheng army came to report to the general's mansion like ants, in fact. This kind of thing is to build a fort. In their opinion, it doesn't matter if they don't want to repair or not, that's Zheng Zhilong's business, but the knives, guns and equipment that were distributed after the meeting can't be lost at all!

In front of the guerrilla general's mansion, people shouted for joy. The officers were either on horseback. Or by boat. They all came to the venue to report for duty.

The front of the house is not said to be full of lights, but it is also very lively, and people come and go from time to time. Carrying wine, meat, ingredients and other things, it is obvious that after the meeting, not only will there be knives, guns and equipment, but also a sumptuous wine banquet waiting for everyone.

"Ship owners! Please! ”

Zheng Zhibao greeted the officers at the door with a spring breeze on his face, still using the name when everyone was begging for a living at sea, looking very cordial and warm.

Several shipowners played haha with him all the way, and walked to the front of the hall where the meeting was prepared, Zhibao stopped, "Rank, my brother has an order, this meeting is important, and those who do not have an official position are not allowed to enter, Zhibao can only send you here, please!" ”

Seeing the solemnity of Zhibao's words, several shipowners didn't have time to think about it, and they were about to enter the house. But he was called by the leopard again. "Ladies and gentlemen, the place inside is not very wide, don't bring the personal entourage and the sword you carry with you, only the two brothers and the shipowners are inside, and the leopard is outside to serve food and tea. Please! ”

Zhibao's words, so that everyone had to untie the sword at the waist and hand it to the entourage, of course, there is a lot of heart and eyes, so he and the leader of the family with the eyes of the eye, signaling him not to stay away, although the current are all Ming officials, but the hearts of the people are ghostly, which can be clear?

In the conference hall, the four doors were wide open, and the wooden carved sash windows were opened, and a gust of fresh wind blew, rolling up the window screens and swaying slightly in the wind.

This situation and this scene suddenly made people give up their suspicions, we didn't bring swords, others naturally didn't either, and there was no way to arrange a knife and axe hand in this courtyard, I'm afraid where he came from?!

"Ladies and gentlemen, today's meeting is to discuss the construction of forts in Huli Mountain and other places!"

Looking at the fact that after the military and political department called the name and sang the mao, all the members were all there, and Zheng Zhilong, as the commander-in-chief, stood high in the handsome position, and explained the theme of the meeting in a clear and righteous manner.

"A few days ago, Zhihu explored the terrain in various places on the Jinxia Sea, and felt that Huli Mountain was the most suitable place to build a fort."

Zheng Zhilong's younger brother Zheng Zhihu stood up at the signal of his eldest brother and talked to the shipowners about the benefits and significance of building the fort.

"Rank ship owner, the location of Huli Mountain is excellent, facing Kinmen Island across the sea in the east, Zhangzhou Linhai in the south, and Gulangyu Island in the west (it seems that Gulangyu is not called this name at this time, but the original name can not be found, so everyone understand!) Reflecting each other from afar, one can control three directions. Then our army can sit back and relax in the Jinxia sea area, and once something happens, we can rely on the surface ships and the artillery fire of the land batteries to annihilate the enemy ships. ”

Hearing this, look at a picture scroll unfolded by two maids on the wall, which is the mountain-shaped landscape of Huli Mountain; A few shipowners, who were still a little suspicious, gradually put their hearts in their stomachs, and it turned out that they were really just talking about building forts, thinking that they wanted everyone to share the cost of building forts, casting or buying cannons.

"Python two!"

Someone in the crowd called Zheng Zhihu's nickname to show closeness.

"It's a good thing to build this fort, tell me how to build it, how much labor and money and food will be needed, and how to raise money and food?"

According to the design of Zhihu, this fort has a bit of a combination of Chinese and Western flavors, and the semi-bunker style of the Francophile and the style of the blockhouse in the inner city of the Ming Dynasty are fused together. The gates, walls, towers, moats, barracks and batteries were cleverly combined.

"The fort was built with granite strips and rammed with the sap of the camphor tree and the sandy soil of charcoal, glutinous rice, and brown sugar, which was popular in southern Fujian. If I have enough money and food, I plan to build a gun emplacement with ash and steel bars! and open hidden passages, build parapets, trenches, battlements, battle aprons, ammunition depots, military rooms, military rooms, official halls, and fence city gates, stone ditches and hilltop observation halls, roads, coasts and other works. ”

This class of officers was born out of the merchant of the sea. I am very familiar with business and ships, but I am not so familiar with civil engineering construction, but I instinctively feel that the design of Zhihu is very sophisticated, but the more sophisticated the design, it often means that the construction period is long and the cost is high.

Thinking of it, he asked, this group of guys had no scruples that Zheng Zhihu was the eldest brother of the guerrilla general Zheng Zhilong, and he was also the most effective cadre under him.

"How much is the construction period and the cost?"

"Flatten the rocks, open up the path, and build the foundation. Tired soil for hills. These things come down. Coupled with the setting of various housing gun positions, it will take a year to a year and a half. ”

"O my lord!"

There is a Catholic who exaggerates the cross on his chest, "This project is really huge!" ”

"Huge? Columns. Have you been to see a few earthen buildings in the mountains on the left? It was all after decades of cold and heat. It took generations to build. The water and fire soldiers can't infringe on it, and the peace of the family is guaranteed, although the price is large. But it's worth it! ”

Zhihu is talking about several tulou buildings in the mountains of Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, all of which are made of unbaked sandy clay and clayey sand mixed with glutinous rice juice in a certain proportion, and then rammed with plywood panels, each of which cannot be completed in decades.

"Therefore, the tired soil is the hill, and the top of the concave is to install the artillery position, the soil is two feet high to the top, from the outside to the inside thick two feet, the compound is the slope one zhang to consolidate its site, the soil is one zhang and two feet from the inside to the outside, except for the outward eight feet do not hollow out, leave it as a tired wall, and the rest of the one zhang and two feet are in the hole of the place, in order to make the barroom...... The soil is tired, so that the enemy artillery cannot be destroyed, and the hole is hidden. The soldiers make the enemy artillery unable to hit, the artillery position is suspended at a high place, and the strength is far away, and there is no danger of artillery smoke covering itself; Outside the stage is only a protective wall, and the enemy grabs the platform, and the ticket to fight back is to win. ”

After listening to Zhihu for a long time, not many people here understood it, but most of them understood that this matter was similar to tying up a bamboo fence and not being afraid of yellow dogs.

"Dashuai, we don't understand what the second marshal said, so you can send a sentence, how much money do you share? How much labor is out? A ship owner with relatively old qualifications who has followed Zheng Zhilong's brothers for a long time expressed his position to Zhilong as a representative.

"The money and labor matters are not bothered by the brothers, and all the things are borne by my brothers. I have summoned you here today to tell you about this fort in addition to another matter. ”

"We were born at sea, and now that we have been recruited, we are the official army of the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention our current status as an officer and soldier, that is, when we are at sea, we are not allowed to act without authorization, and if there is a violator, how should we deal with it? ”

Zheng Zhilong, who was behind the handsome case, had a cold voice, and every word seemed to pop out of the 10,000-year-old ice cave, cold and piercing.

Even those who have nothing to do in their hearts, they are also uneasy when they hear this, not to mention, those ship owners who have evil intentions.

Just when everyone's hearts were beating like a little rabbit, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door, and the Zhi Leopard, who was taking care of the food and tea outside, walked in with a smile, and with his steps, a series of blood beads ticked and sprinkled on the ground.

"Whoosh!"

An object was thrown straight at the feet of one of the shipowners!

"Ahh

Everyone was stunned, it was a human head that had just been cut off! It's the owner's personal leader! The muscles on his face were still twitching, and his lips were still vaguely wriggling, as if he was still about to say something.

"Handsome! What does that mean?! ”

Seeing this, the owner of the ship simply threw up his courage and gave up his life.

"What do you mean?! A few of you sent ships to Nanzhong to buy iron, firearms, gunpowder and other items without authorization, did you ever have my order?! ”

"You ignore your official and military status, and the sea pirate Liu Laoxiang hooks up with the messenger often goes back and forth, I think everyone used to make a living at sea, it is inevitable that there will be some incense, so you will open your eyes and close your eyes, you are becoming more and more presumptuous! I actually dared to sell the gunpowder knives and guns I issued to Liu Laoxiang without authorization?! ”

"It's okay to send a ship to Nanzhong Trade without authorization, I read that you are to support your family and send the brothers below a way to live, but why do you want to destroy the law of the Nanzhong Army? Smuggling?! The Nanzhong Army detained your ship and wrote to me, and I only learned about it, what are you going to do? Cut off everyone's source of weapons and gunpowder? Or is it cutting off everyone's financial route? Well?! ”

A series of questions made many officers in the council chamber feel the same hatred for the enemy. Oh, yes! The trade route to Nanzhong is not for a few of you, but for the whole group. If it's because of the behavior of a few of you, who will take care of this black cauldron?!

At that moment, the less timid owner couldn't help but kneel on the ground with a puff, "Spare your life!" Spare your life! ”

"The little lard was blinded by the heart, and a Jiangxi merchant came from the north and said that someone was inquiring about the area of Nanjing and asking about the refined salt. There is also where the southern railways that Li Fengjie, the governor of Liangguang, transported into the capital from that year. Willing to pay a high price to buy, the small subordinates have many families, and the military salary is insufficient, and the small ones have to pay their own money to make up for it. It's been a long time, and it's been a lot. In a moment of confusion, he went to South China with them for private trade. I wanted to make a little money, so I could make up for my brothers. Those who don't want to offend the South Central Army, the small ones are willing to accept military justice. ”

There are also those who know that it is difficult to escape the poisonous hands of the Zheng brothers. Kicked the kneeling guy in the ass, "You spineless thing!" I didn't see you too fat when I ate meat, and today I knelt down to him here and begged for mercy! Do you think their brothers can spare us?! ”

Zhibao led more than 20 pro-soldiers to stand behind several ship owners with ropes in their hands, "Today, whether it is military law or gang rules, you will not escape death, the difference is that one is in a different place, and the wife and children of the family property ship are not yours after death, and the other is to leave you a whole corpse, handsome and benevolent, Ling Er and other wives and children will be rich in food and clothing in the future." Take your pick! ”

Zhibao's words were like a heavy hammer, knocking on the last line of defense of these people.

"Bang bang! Bang! ”

Zheng Zhibao, who was dressed as a scholar in a Taoist robe, took a handkerchief and wiped the blood on his hands, "Don't panic, that is the execution of the rebellious soldiers who intend to mutiny." ”

Only then did everyone settle down a little, and refocused their attention on the shipowners who had been tied up with flowers.

Someone couldn't help it, so he opened his mouth and asked Zheng Zhilong, "Dashuai, how to choose what the fifth master said?" ”

Very simple. If he resists to the end, not only will he die under the sword, but his ships, family property, and subordinates will all be confiscated, and even his wife and daughter will be thrown into the camp prostitutes, and the sailors and soldiers will vent a thing or two. As for the son, that is, he must go with his father to see the Dragon King of the East China Sea.

"My brother has the virtue of a good life, and he can't bear to do this, so he left a way back for them, as long as he wrote a defense and a confession, explaining the ins and outs of the matter, and confessing his guilt to the law; Then not only can the old and young in the family be safeguarded, but they will still have their share of the annual maritime trade income in the future. ”

"Zheng Zhilong! Zheng Yiguan! You're so ruthless! ”

There was a desperate wail from the shipowner, and the flames in his eyes seemed to burn the Zheng brothers to death, helplessly, for the sake of their families, they had to beg for death.

"Where to write an argument?! Write a confession!? ”

Several clerks were invited to the council room, set up a low table in front of everyone, and wrote for them in front of the shipowners the confessions and confessions of disrespecting military orders, going to Nanzhong trade without authorization, and selling arms and Liu Xiang's gang.

After writing it, they read it out in front of a group of officers to make sure that it was correct, and Zheng Zhibao's own soldiers came over, and with the blood on the heads of the people they had just beheaded, they dipped the fingers of several ship owners and pressed them on the defense and confession.

Then, a group of soldiers rushed in, dragged the shipowner, who was limp to the ground like a mess of mud, outside the council chamber, and strangled him with a cable.

"Everyone, this matter is over, let's talk about the distribution of those swords, guns and guns?"

Zhilong's face was smiling, but it made everyone shudder.

"Obey the orders of the marshal, the sword mountain and the sea of fire, and move forward!"

"Obey the orders of the marshal, the sword mountain and the sea of fire, and move forward!"

The crowd fell down and bowed, chanting incessantly.

Zheng Zhilong still had a smile on his face, "Brothers, please, they are all people who were born and died together, why be so polite." ”

"That's right! My brother specially instructed that someone came from Nanzhong a few days ago and brought forty Tianzhu orchids over, and at the banquet in the youth, they were asked to sing and dance for everyone to toast. After the feast, you can bring them back and let them serve one or two. ”

The officers have just seen others step into the ghost gate with their feet, but now they are fine wine and food, and the enchanting Tianzhu orchid is in their arms, which suddenly makes people feel that they are all in a dream.

Several pleadings and confessions were sent to Hue a few days later.

Zheng Zhibao said very politely when he met with Shouhan.

"My brother is very remorseful for this misunderstanding, and he has already executed the subordinates who caused the incident."

"Huh! Brother Zheng is strict in governing the army. It's better to be ashamed! ”

Shouhan bowed to the north, and Zhibao hurriedly got up and returned the salute.

After the two of them exchanged polite and aggrieved manners, the topic began to enter the real purpose.

"My brother appointed Zhibao to come this time, in addition to the guilt of Jing Plea, there are some other things to ask for."

"It's okay to talk about it, as long as the foolish brother can do it, go in the water, go in the fire."

"We're going to buy some burnt ash, nine-turn steel bars. It is used to construct a house. In addition, my brother recently received an order from Lord Shangfeng Xiong, and he will soon start a war with Liu Xiang and others. Therefore, it was planned to purchase a batch of large and small artillery and gunpowder. I wonder if the brothers of the South China Army can support one or two? ”

Buy ash and nine-turn steel bars. It was for the construction of the Hulishan Fort, and to purchase all kinds of artillery and gunpowder, which were installed on the fort in addition to fighting Liu Xiang's gang at sea. Use it to see the house. This. Shouhan has been confirmed by the secret reports of the Statistics Office and the Business Intelligence Office.

But. started a war with Liu Xiang, but these few words made Shouhan feel as if something was about to happen, but he couldn't think of anything. I wanted to bang myself on the head in frustration.

"Li Shuai. Li Shuai? ”

Zheng Zhibao looked at the change on Shouhan's face with some surprise, he was afraid that Shouhan was a little wrong, so he couldn't help but whisper to Shouhan to question. "Is the tiger sick? Do you want to ask Lang Zhong to take a look? ”

"It's okay! It's okay. ”

Shouhan waved his hand, signaling that he was fine. "It's just that there are some things in my mind that I can't figure out for a while, and I feel a little trance."

Picking up the teacup and taking a sip of hot tea, Shouhan calmed down slightly, and for a while he still couldn't remember the matter related to Liu Xiang, "Forget it, I don't miss him!" Maybe it'll come out on its own! ”

He turned his head to Zhibao, "Brother Xian, how many ashes, steel bars, and gunpowder do you plan to buy?" What kind of artillery do you want? ”

"If you burn ashes, it is said that it is also 200 catties a barrel, I plan to buy 5,000 barrels first, and if the goods are complete, I will ship 1,000 barrels back this time. As for the steel bar, as long as Li Shuai is willing to make a move, how many of our brothers are willing. ”

"Brother Xian, I won't hide it from you, in fact, using wrought iron to replace steel bars has the same effect, and the artillery fire of Liu Xiang and others can't help you. But the cost is saved by at least sixty percent, and it is better for you to use the money saved to transport more gunpowder and all kinds of artillery back? ”

Outside of the words, Shouhan clicked, you bought ash and steel bars to build the so-called house, but it was just used to deal with Liu Xiang and the like.

"As for artillery, I'll build yì you should bring a few more eight-pounder guns back, and I'll give you twenty shells and a barrel of gunpowder for each cannon. If it is worth it, it will be three thousand pieces of silver. In addition, there are a few newly cast eighteen-pounder guns with a good range, which you can transport back and place on the heights of Taiwu Mountain in Kinmen and Xiamen, so that you can ensure that the sea is safe. ”

Zhibao felt a pang in his heart, and it seemed that the news that he was going to build the fort had already leaked out. But I don't know where it came from! Be sure to check it out when you go back!

The two sides also reached a consensus on further deepening trade activities and reducing the living space of maritime forces other than the two sides.

Zhibao did not mention the matter of the lucky ships that were detained by Shouhan, and Shouhan did not mention it.

"Brother Xian, if you don't have enough fleet, I can deliver it to your door here, I don't know where to send it?"

Shouhan was on the dock and took Zheng Zhibao's hand very sincerely.

Seeing barrels of burnt ash and gunpowder being sent into the cabin by the official slaves and those Japanese laborers, Zhibao was quite moved, and the people who came to do business did not persuade the buyers to exchange the high-priced things for the low-priced sellers, and the Shouhan set a precedent, and those wrought iron, transported back can be more useful.

"If Li Shuai's soldiers are interested, they can go to Liuluo Bay in Kinmen, and we will definitely sweep the couch to welcome guests."

"Damn it!"

Seeing a little sail shadow disappear, Shouhan suddenly woke up like a dream, and finally remembered the incident related to Liu Xiang!

"Battle of Liuluo Bay!"

This is the matter that will determine the future and fate of the Dutch and the Zheng Maritime Group, how can I not get a piece of the pie?

"Everywhere, intensify the monitoring of the movements of the Dutch in Batavia and other places, as well as the movements of that Liu Laoxiang who is in cahoots with the Dutch wolf bèi, I want to know what they ate five days ago, which woman they slept with, how many cannons there are on the ship, how many times each cannon has been fired, and how much gunpowder needs to be loaded!" (To be continued......)