Chapter 28 Lin Cha, the chief soldier of the Guangdong Naval Division

Lin Cha said: "Among the local pirates in Guangdong, the most powerful ones are my subordinates, as well as Shibi, Ma Xuansheng, Xu Guixiang, and Zheng Tingqiu. As well as some pirates active in the waters of Vietnam. ”

Zhang Xuan said silently: "Shibi, Ma Xuansheng, Xu Guixiang, Zheng Tingqiu." His heart suddenly moved, and he said: "The names of these people are so familiar, it seems that they are the generals under my command?" ”

Lin Cha said: "Exactly. After the battle of the day, I surrendered to the imperial court with them. It's just that I surrendered the earliest and was sent to escort General Zhang to Wuzhou. And the four colleagues were all idle because of their bad reputations. All the ships were either used as civilian ships or were occupied by the Zheng family. Except for the die-hard brothers, the rest were dismissed, either as civilians or into other armies. Now it's living up to the old look. ”

Zhang Xuan didn't care much about the affairs of the sailor before. After all, Zheng Chenggong is here. But he didn't expect the famous four surnamed pirates to fall to such a point.

However, Zhang Xuan didn't regret it much.

Although there is a pirate culture in the West, in essence, none of these pirates is a good thing. Even the Lin Cha in front of him may not have innocent blood in his hands. It's just that in troubled times, there is no need to be harsh. But I don't think that Zhang Xuan doesn't know, Shibi, Ma Xuansheng, Xu Guixiang, Zheng Tingqiu. What did these four people do in the first place? Lin Cha is also a big pirate leader, why don't the Cantonese list them together as pirates with five surnames, but list them together separately as pirates with four surnames.

A lot of these things are hard to think about.

Zhang Xuan said: "What you mean is that you want to include these four people in the water master. ”

Lin Cha said: "The general is wise, there are police everywhere on the coast of Guangdong, and now there are only a few thousand sailors available under the command of the lower officials. It can only guard the mouth of the Pearl River, and the rest of the places are beyond the reach of the whip. This is the time to employ people, and these four people are all fierce generals at sea. There is no such thing as a gift. ”

Zhang Xuan didn't say yes, nor did he say no, but said to Zheng Lian: "Call Shibi, Ma Xuansheng, Xu Guixiang, Zheng Tingqiu, and all four of them over." ”

Zheng Lian agreed, and immediately went down to give the order.

About a pillar of incense, Zhang Xuan heard the sound of the wooden staircase below. Zheng Lian said: "General, the four generals have arrived." ”

Zhang Xuan said, "Let him in." ”

Shibi, Ma Xuansheng, Xu Guixiang, and Zheng Tingqiu entered the four mermaids. Kneeling on the ground, he said, "I'll wait to see the general." ”

Zhang Xuan didn't speak coldly.

Zhang Xuan has always been good to the people below, but now he wants to give them a dismount.

The four of them knelt on the ground, not daring to look up. For a while, I thought about it. I don't know what to think of, but for a moment, my back was soaked in cold sweat, and it was only a few minutes, but these four people felt like a lifetime.

"Look up." Zhang Xuan said.

The four immediately raised their heads.

Zhang Xuan's eyes swept over, these four heads were lying on the ground, Zhang Xuan couldn't see it, and when they looked up at this moment, Zhang Xuan immediately felt that they had several common characteristics, that is, black. Although not as good as Africans. But it is darker than ordinary Han people, and the skin is rough. It looks like an abrasive cloth.

These are all traces left by the sea.

"Do you know my Great Xia military discipline?" Zhang Xuan said lightly.

"Yes." "Yes." "Yes." "Yes." The voices of the four men were inconsistent.

Zhang Xuan said: "It's good to know." According to the military discipline of Great Xia, how should you punish what you committed before? ”

As soon as Zhang Xuan said this, these four people didn't dare to say anything. Because they know that according to the military discipline of Great Xia, they can't escape the word "death".

Zhang Xuan's voice sank slightly, and he said, "Say." ”

"Die." Xu Guixiang couldn't bear it for a while, and said in a low voice.

"It's good to know." Zhang Xuan said: "Since I accepted your surrender at the beginning, I naturally didn't ask about the past, but I didn't want to use you anymore, I originally intended to give each of you a few hundred taels of silver to send things away." The province let them tarnish my name as the king of Great Xia. ”

Shibi gritted his teeth slightly.

None of them are reconciled to such an outcome.

To put it mildly, they can achieve a large pirate with more than 10,000 soldiers, and everyone is not short of money, even if they are short of money, they are not short of these hundreds of taels of silver.

"Still." Zhang Xuan's voice changed and said, "General Lin has promoted you to us, saying that you are 'Mighty Generals of the Sea.'" 'I'll give you another chance, and from today onwards, your headquarters will be merged into the Guangdong Naval Division, and it will be under the jurisdiction of General Lin Cha, the chief soldier of the Guangdong Naval Division. ”

"General Xie." The five of them said in unison. Lincha also knelt down in thanksgiving. Zhang Xuan only said before that Lin Cha would be in charge of the water division. But the name was not finalized. At this moment, it is for Lin Cha to be an official.

"Get up." Zhang Xuan said: "I just said ugly things in front, even if you are far away at sea. As long as you violate the military discipline of Great Xia, I will not spare you. I want to fight for a wife. Just take care of yourself, and don't be unpredictable. ”

"I'll get it."

Especially Shibi, Ma Xuansheng, Xu Guixiang, Zheng Tingqiu, the four of them almost seemed to be riding a roller coaster, their emotions were up and down, and they were sweating all over, although some people also guessed that Zhang Xuan might be giving a dismount. But no one was sure that Zhang Xuan would not really kill them.

The current Zhang Xuan is no longer the nobody he was at the beginning, but a heavy general with more than 100,000 troops.

Zhang Xuan said: "Lin Cha. ”

Lin Cha said: "The last will be. ”

Zhang Xuan's voice paused slightly, and he said, "People, I gave it to you." When will you give me a result? ”

Lin Cha said with a sad face: "My lord, the construction of sailors not only needs people, but also ships, and now there is a shortage of ships in various departments. You can only build a shelf. And building a ship requires not only manpower and financial resources, but also time. There is no urgency. ”

As soon as Zhang Xuan heard the money, he had a toothache and said, "How much is a ship?" ”

Lin Cha said: "It depends on what kind of ship it is, if it is an ordinary ship, seventy or eighty taels, more than a hundred taels is about the same." It's just that this ship is just a civilian ship. The cannon has to be counted separately. ”

Zhang Xuan said: "If it is a Western-style gunboat, how much does it cost? ”

Lin Cha said: "A big ship like this is about 1,200 taels. Moreover, there is no shipbuilding union in Guangdong to build such a ship, so it must be built in Macao, and it is difficult to say when it will take place. ”

"One thousand two hundred taels." Zhang Xuan almost gasped.

He also wanted to launch a thousand ships at the same time, even if he didn't launch a thousand ships at the same time, he couldn't afford to play just a hundred ships, and a hundred Western warships would cost 120,000 taels, plus the guns on board, other things, the salaries of the officers and men on board, and so on, hundreds of thousands of taels could not be built at all.

Now Zhang Xuan's finances are so tight that he can't pay his military salary, where is there so much money to squander. 、

It's Macau again. Zhang Xuan couldn't help but have such a thought in his heart.

Zhang Xuan said: "The Zheng family has chosen a few islands along the coast as a station, and at this moment they are all withdrawn, and you have to take them over one by one." I will apportion you thirty thousand taels of silver. This stall will be built first, and things will be done slowly. Zhang Xuan wanted to send 10,000 taels first, but thinking about 10,000 taels of silver, no matter what, it was not enough. I had to grit my teeth and say.

"General Xie." Lin Cha said.

Zhang Xuan said: "The water master is busy, you should go and get busy with your business first." ”

"Yes." Several people said.

Zhang Xuan had already ordered the eviction of the guests, even if they were not busy, they would be busy.

After a few people left, Zhang Xuan took a careful inventory of his family, and without others telling him, Zhang Xuan knew that he didn't have much money in his hand, and it would be supported until June this year, when the spring tax came down, and a large amount of money and grain would be credited to the account. If you don't want to do it, don't say June. He couldn't even get through March.

Tens of thousands of taels of silver are a huge amount of wealth that a person cannot afford to save in several lifetimes. But for the southern army, it was almost impossible to support it for a month or two.

Zhang Xuan said: "Zheng Lian found all the documents in Macau. ”

"Yes." Zheng Lian said.

Zhang Xuan has decided that this amount of money will be squeezed out of Macau, whether it is for silver or for other reasons, Macao has reached the point where it cannot be solved.