Chapter 70: Looking Back at the Smoke Settled

Halfway north, the three ships encountered a southerly wind, which saved them two days less time at sea.

When the wind blowing on the sea surface is a headwind, the three-distance ship will use the angle sail to form a certain angle with the wind direction, and move forward in a zigzag shape, not only the route will become longer, but also the speed will be much slower.

Because of the compass orientation and sextant positioning, as long as they do not deviate too far from the course, they can still confirm their position in the vast sea, and the error will not be very large for a short voyage like this.

"Da Lang, there are fireworks in the beacon tower above the hanging island!" A righteous young man knocked on Zhao Youju's cabin door and said with a serious expression.

According to the rules of the hanging island, only when the island is in danger, will fireworks be set off on the beacon tower, which was originally to alert the passing coastal control warships, but this time it was seen by the three distant ships.

"Go up and have a look." Zhao Youju rubbed his forehead vigorously, the symptoms of that headache were committed again, he glanced at Yang Miaozhen, this careless girl did not notice his discomfort, but was extremely interested in the accident that happened on the hanging island.

Zhao Youju smiled bitterly in his heart, compared to Ayu, Yang Miao is really a rough nerve.

As for the situation on the island, he was not worried, now it was not the defenseless hanging island a year ago, plus those two bronze cannons that exceeded this era, Zhao and Ju believed that it was enough to deter anyone who dared to intrude. Even if the other party can land on the island, the righteous boys who have been trained in paramilitary training for several years, the island guards who have been trained by the righteous boys, and some of the Red Jacket Army volunteers who are temporarily stationed here are enough to completely destroy those who go to the island.

However, if he knew that this time it was a number of pirates of some size in the entire Great Song Sea Frontier who came together and gathered more than 60 large and small ships, with more than 1,200 people, then he would probably not be so relieved.

Yang Miaozhen was the first to run to the deck to watch, and by this time it was already dark, so he could clearly see the situation on the island. I could still vaguely hear the shouting and scolding on the island, but the sound of weapons and fighting was not heard. Yang Miaozhen stared at it for a long time, only to see people walking around in the village, and there were always teams of people patrolling back and forth on the docks and lighthouses.

"It's all right." Yang Miaozhen said a little dejectedly: "I have been suffocating on the boat for a long time, and I was looking for someone to try my fist." ”

Qin Dashi and the others who were following Zhao Youju all changed their faces, these days on the boat, Yang Miaozhen has tried their fists with them. With the trust of Zhao and Ju, Yang Miaozhen is very attentive in teaching them fists, feet, knives and guns, and every time she practices, almost she really kills.

"My marksmanship is killed by thousands of troops, if you just want to learn some flower boxing and embroidered legs, it is enough to have two strokes of the big stone, but if you want to survive in the two armies, you need to follow my practice...... What are you laughing at, you have to practice at home, always let others protect you, are you still a man? The first half of the sentence was said to Qin Dashi and others when they practiced boxing, and the second half of the sentence was said to Zhao Youju who watched them being beaten on the boat.

"I'm only thirteen years old, I'm only a teenager, not a man, and I don't need to go into battle." Only when facing Yang Miaozhen did Zhao Heju regain the feeling of the future life a little, no longer so indifferent, and he could joke with her according to her words.

Since Yang Miaozhen followed him, he laughed significantly more. Therefore, Qin Dashi and the others ignored Yang Miaozhen's disrespect and even offense to Zhao Heju, if they were someone else, they were afraid that they would have already slammed their fists.

"It seems that there is nothing to do, just nothing." Zhao Youju squinted his eyes and looked at it, thinking to himself.

The hanging island is his money jar, and in the conceivable years, it would be good for Tamsui and Keelung to be self-sufficient and accumulate strength for him, and he has more places to spend money, and he must also rely on the industry on the hanging island.

The boat gradually approached the dock, because of the camphor flag, the young people on the island knew that it was Zhao and Ju who came back, and they were all very excited. Meng Xisheng and Li Yilao led them to greet them, and after they docked at the post, Zhao Heju noticed that there were still some boats parked in the dock, including several warships from the coastal control envoys.

"Da Lang!"

Meng Xisheng's face was still a little pale, it was because he had seen too many dead people, Zhao Heju glanced at it, and found that some of the righteous teenagers left on the hanging island had not appeared, and his face sank slightly.

The first three phases of Yixue were all taught by him, almost everyone has their own strengths, and he also has feelings for everyone, just like his own students in later generations. Whoever was killed or wounded, he would be very sad.

Meng Xi confessed this, and hurriedly said: "We have seven injuries, all of them are flesh wounds, and they don't matter." ”

Zhao Youju nodded and glanced at Li Yilao again, and Li Yilao's face was full of smiles: "Da Lang, I put a few big explosions." ”

Judging from his words and expression, the two bronze cannons that took hundreds of thousands of dollars to cast were not bad. A smile appeared on Zhao Youju's face, and then he asked, "What are the casualties on the island, and where are the stupid thieves looking for death?" ”

"Eighteen pirates in the South China Sea have formed a gang and entangled more than 1,000 people, and they were found by Ding Gongai who ran away last time." Meng Xisheng said simply: "Yesterday, I was driven away by a man at sea during the day, and I attacked from the back mountain at night, but I hit the alarm bell. The patrol ship of the coastal control envoy saw our police smoke, and it happened to come last night, so it was a hard battle. ”

In last night's bitter battle, the protagonist was not a righteous boy, but a coastal envoy and a guard of the hanging island. In the past year or so, the coastal control envoy has almost regarded the hanging island as half of his own camp, and has moved some things from the Dinghai station, including dozens of crossbows. In last night's battle, these dozens of crossbows and more than thirty other bows caused heavy casualties to the pirates.

When the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau was first established, Zhao Youju attached great importance to precautions, except for the dock, in order to prevent the enemy from climbing the back hill and condescending from the lighthouse, he ordered to set up an alarm bell near the left side of the lighthouse, and there were people on duty on the tower every night, and after the alarm bell rang, they would observe on the tower, and if the enemy attacked, the bell would ring immediately. Moreover, on the mountain road leading from the lighthouse to the stockade, he deliberately set up several wall barricades so that the enemy could not rush directly into the village from the mountain. When the pirates rushed to these walls, they were ambushed by the guards and coastal guards who set them up to fire a flurry of naval crossbows, and they were crowded into a narrow space, and there was no way to avoid them, and after a few rounds of crossbow arrows, more than two hundred men were killed or wounded.

Unable to kill the opponent, his companions kept screaming, and the morale of the pirates who rushed down the mountain collapsed in an instant. They either relied on their agility or used the corpses of their companions as a cover, and desperately fled back, but the pirates behind did not know it, and tried their best to squeeze forward, and the two sides killed each other, and many deaths were killed.

By the time Wang Ziqing, Zhao Lang and other thieves stabilized everyone, there were already murderous voices around them, and now it was not the pirates who wanted to attack the island, but the island that wanted to attack them. With the condescending terrain, they were able to resist at first, but when the coastal system caused the officers and soldiers to use crossbows again, their resistance immediately collapsed.

In the panic, only a few leaders such as Wang Ziqing and Zhao Lang escaped by ropes, and some fell to their deaths, and most of them were busy choosing a way to escape along the ridge into the mountains of the island. At present, the officers and soldiers of the coastal system are mobilizing manpower to arrest people all over the mountains, and in order to prevent sporadic pirates from breaking into the stockade, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau is also heavily guarded, and young people who are mainly guards patrol everywhere.

"Sect leader Lin is very attentive, he personally killed the two pirate leaders, and now he is leading people to hunt down those pirates, and Huo Daguan is also leading people to sweep around, looking for Ding Gong Ai's whereabouts." After the report was finished, Meng Xisheng smiled bitterly and said, "The villain can't restrain him, so he has to do it." ”

"Chongcheng is also here?" Zhao Youju frowned, Huo Chongcheng didn't like to take a boat, so he came here.

"The news that the pirates are coming is from Huo Daguan, and the news that the 'Heroes Society' found out in the branch building in Quanzhou, he rushed over overnight, saying that he wanted to kill his father's enemy with his hand."

"It's a coincidence...... Zhao Heju couldn't help but be surprised by this coincidence.

"His manpower has caused a lot of trouble...... Meng Xisheng complained: "If he is not cautious, or he is punished by Da Lang, I will also drive him out of the island." ”

Li Yilao couldn't stop nodding his head, in fact, few of the righteous boys had a good impression of Huo Chongcheng, including the most wild Li Ye, who looked down on him a little. On the one hand, it is because Huo Chongcheng's atmosphere of the rivers and lakes is too heavy, which is incompatible with their righteous learning, and on the other hand, because Huo Chongcheng is sharp in Shanyin County, but the righteous young man feels that he is just robbing him of the glory that originally belonged to his own eldest man.

"Let's go to the place first, it's too conspicuous."

Because the soldiers of the coastal control envoy were with the people of Huojiazhuang, Zhao and Ju did not want to attract the attention of those who cared, so they were cautious.

They returned to the house, chatted for a while about the situation of the hanging island during this time, saw that Zhao and Ju were a little tired, Meng Xisheng and Li Yilao said goodbye and left, after coming out, Meng Xisheng said to Li Yilao with some worry: "Recently, Da Lang always seems to feel tired, Sister Yu is not by his side, I am a little worried." ”

"Maybe it's the fatigue of the journey, after all, it's drifting around on the sea." Li Yilao's temperament is rougher than his: "I called Dashi over and asked." ”

From Qin Dashi's mouth, they didn't get anything, although Qin Dashi also got along with Zhao and Ju day and night, but Zhao and Ju covered it up well, Qin Dashi just felt that he closed his eyes too many times, but it was caused by his excessive work, and he didn't care.

Huo Chongcheng didn't know that Zhao and Ju had returned to Hanging Island, he caught two pirates, and after learning that Ding Gong Ai had failed to escape on the ship and was still hiding on the island, he led the family Ding Gang to search for Ding Gong Ai's whereabouts. But this Ding Gong Ai has no skills, but the ability to escape is full of ten, the coastal control envoy, the island guards and Huo Chongcheng's subordinates, there are also four or five hundred people searching on the island, but they can't find it, only catching some small fish and shrimp.

"Could it be that you are going to be escaped by that guy again?"

Thinking of this, Huo Chongcheng's heart swelled with anger, Nading Gong Ai not only repeatedly embarrassed his family's property, but also killed his father, although time has passed, the hatred has not faded.

"Chop off those pirates who are caught, hang their heads on bamboo poles, and shout at me." Despite his anger, he still came up with a way for him, he ordered.

Ding Gongai and Ouyang Yingfeng were accompanied by four or five pirates, and now they were hiding in a rock crevice on the island, because of the dense trees, although the search had passed by several times, they had not found it. But everyone understood that according to the search method on the island, in a few days, even if they were not found, they would starve to death.

"Didn't you say there were only a few guards on the island?" In this case, Ouyang Yingfeng glared at Ding Gongai angrily, not only did he lose his manpower, but the boat he borrowed from Pu Kaizong also became the spoils of the hanging island, even if he could get out of the island alive, he would not be able to regain his strength. Therefore, Ding Gong Ai, who instigated him to attack Hanging Island, hated him more and more.

"Originally, there were only some guards." Ding Gong Ai's face is also like earth, every time he comes to the hanging island, he will hit his head and bleed once, and he lost most of his hands last time, and this time it is difficult to get out of his own house.

"Shhhhh A pirate interrupts their argument.

Everyone quieted down to listen, but they heard someone shouting outside: "Those who capture the leader of the bandits alive will not die, and those who know and hide will be beheaded!" ”

Ding Gongai secretly wondered in his heart, although he was the instigator when he came this time, the big bosses were Wang Ziqing and Zhao Lang, even Ouyang Yingfeng was more famous than him, these people outside didn't say that they wanted to arrest Wang Ziqing and others, but they wanted to arrest him, I don't know why.

As soon as his thoughts turned, he suddenly realized that something was wrong, and when he turned around, he saw Ouyang Yingfeng and others staring at him with a cruel smile.

"Mo, Mo, Mo...... If you are fooled, they will arrest me, and they, they will not spare ......."

In a hurry, he stuttered again, and before he could say anything, a pirate pounced on him from behind and hugged him, he waved his knife to make sure, but was kicked away by Ouyang Yingfeng.

"Trapped here is also death, if you are captured and sacrificed, there is still some hope after all!" Ouyang Yingfeng sneered: "Ghost, don't blame me for not being righteous enough, you will be the same if you are replaced!" ”

Ding Gong Ai scolded, Ouyang Yingfeng's face did not change, and ordered: "Everyone shouted to catch Ding Gong Ai, let's go out!" ”

When Ding Gongai was escorted to Huo Chongcheng, Huo Chongcheng was ecstatic in his heart, and after he confirmed that it was correct, he laughed and said, "You have today!" ”

"I—I have a grudge against you?" Ding Gong Ai knew that it was inevitable, but he was not afraid.

"Let you die clearly, when you killed my father Huo Zuoyu in Huojiazhuang, Shaoxing Mansion, I offered a reward for your life, and in the past five or six years, I have not thought about how to deal with you!" Huo Chongcheng stabbed Ding Gongai with a bamboo pole, and said with a sneer: "Don't worry, don't worry, in the past five or six years, I have asked the officials of the prefectures and counties near Shaoxing for countless methods of waiting for people, and I will slowly use them on you!" ”

"I just want to die quickly...... Just want to die quickly......" Ding Gong Ai was shocked when he heard this, the matter of Huojiazhuang at the beginning can be said to be the root of his downfall, he knew that it was impossible to escape death, so he begged bitterly.

"Lower his chin, tie it up, don't let him commit suicide, the official wants to concoct him, don't toss him for ten days and a half months, the official will be ashamed of his surname Huo!" Huo Chongcheng ordered.

This time, the inventory of the remaining pirates on the island lasted for three days, and when Huo Chongcheng returned to the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau with Ding Gongai, Zhao Youju and his party had quietly left and returned to Yuzhang Villa. The pirates who attacked the island were almost wiped out, and most of their ships became trophies of coastal control envoys, and almost no one was spared except for Wang Ziqing and Zhao Lang, who escaped. Wang Ziqing and Zhao Lang did not get away with it for a few months, and a few months later, the new governor of Quanzhou, Zhen Dexiu, recruited fishermen to be brave and captured Wang Ziqing and Zhao Lang, whose strength was greatly damaged.

The pirates who escaped from the Hanging Island by luck were all talking about the color change of the Hanging Island, and since then, the Great Song Dynasty Haijiang has been appeased.

Huo Chongcheng got his wish, Ouyang Yingfeng knew that he had lost several big ships of Pu Kaizong, and he would inevitably be hunted down by him when he returned to the South China Sea, so he simply threw himself into Huo Chongcheng. There were as many as 1,000 pirates killed or caught on the hanging island, and Lin Xi didn't care about such one or two people, he really pretended not to know about it.

The first achievements of these pirates were naturally given to the coastal envoys, Lin Xi was extremely happy, he was only credited with merit and failed to be promoted last time he beheaded dozens of achievements, and this time he should be promoted no matter what. However, to his anger and disappointment, someone took the path of Prime Minister Shi Miyuan's housekeeper, and left aside the post of deputy general who he originally thought was in his pocket, and the newly appointed commander of the coastal control envoy did not treat him well for some reason, he was both ashamed and angry, coupled with Hu Fulang's words, he actually resigned from his military position, and took dozens of brothers who were close to him on weekdays to get on the "Dingyuan" ship and become the captain of the Dingyuan ship.

He didn't know that whether it was the one who followed the path of Shi Miyuan's housekeeper or the new leader, Zhao and Ju made Hu Fulang use a lot of money in a roundabout way. With the increasing number of sea ships under the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, although sailors can be recruited, it is difficult to find a reliable captain, so Zhao and Ju will resort to such methods.

It was not easy to sell the military registration, but with the well-known Brother Kong Fang opening the way, even the king of heaven and Lao Tzu had to retreat, but it was thousands of runs, and Zhao Heju had dozens of more skilled sailors in his hands. According to Zhao and Ju's orders, the families of these naval soldiers also received the request, they are all used to following the army, and they are not afraid to cross the ocean.

With these original sailors, coupled with the newly built "Tongyuan" sea ship, Zhao and Ju began to try the South China Sea trade, naturally, he did not dare to sail far at first, just in Qingyuan, Quanzhou, Jiaozhi, Zhancheng between the circle, although the profit is also a lot, but far less than other maritime merchants.

Since Zhendexiu took office, Quanzhou has abolished and bought the strategy to eradicate pirates, and commerce has gradually prospered. Although Pu Kaizong was involved in the pirate attack on the hanging island and lost several large ships, but now that Zhendexiu is in charge of Quanzhou, he has seen hope again.

As long as he is lucky, he can earn back those ships by making a trip to Sriwijaya with his remaining sea boats, and if he is ruthless about running a big meal, the profit can be a hundred times that of this.

The man around forty years old he met in the "Heroes Club" was really Zhen Dexiu, because he was cautious and polite, Zhen Dexiu appreciated him.

The Battle of Hanging Island almost completely destroyed the South China Sea pirate gang in Dadian, and Zhende Xiuzhi Quanzhou made the number of maritime merchants increase rapidly, and also made Zhao and Ju speed up the pace of going to the South China Sea.

After returning to Yuzhang Villa, Zhao Youju no longer went out of Shaoxing Mansion, and went to his grandfather's house more often. Huo Chongcheng went overseas to avenge his father, and the matter of Ding Gongai, the leader of the pirates, was spread everywhere after he came back through the mouth of his family's idle Han martial artists, and under his light, Zhao Heju was just an unknown country boy.