Huludao, where part of the Hongtang whale branch is located, covers an area of not large, only a radius of more than ten miles, just because it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, etc., since it was taken by the Hongtang fleet from the hands of Yuan Laoba, a hegemon in the South China Sea, it has been an important stronghold of Hongmen to defend Dayuan Island.

Today's Huludao has been developed and utilized everywhere, with fortifications, ports for docking fleet warships, soldier posts, playgrounds, etc., and even the underground of the island has been excavated and built by Hongtang sappers to build warehouses, weapons depots and other hidden fortifications, which have become the most important eastern point for the defense of Keelung Town.

Huludao, as the garrison of the Whale Department of the Hongtang Army, maintains the garrison of more than 10,000 soldiers and more than 20 warships on the island anytime and anywhere, and can be dispatched urgently at any time as long as there is an emergency within the control of the Whale Department.

The rest of the whale soldiers, except for a few Jianghai people who take turns to rest, the rest are mostly patrolling the huge sea area between Oyuan Island and Ryukyu to clear out the new pirates around and protect the cargo ships along the way.

On the fifth day of the fourth month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, several faces suddenly appeared on Hulu Island, and they held the executive order issued by the military department in their hands, and easily obtained permission to enter Hulu Island.

"You're here, do it!"

On the surface, the special personnel of the Hongtang Military Department who came to Huludao came to visit and exchange military drills, but after everyone had nothing to do with each other at night, these new comrades-in-arms entered a secret room nearly five meters deep underground under the leadership of the local soldiers of the Whale Department.

The secret room is not small, it is thirty or forty square in size, and there are already more than ten people in the room, except for the new members who have been invited.

"Yes, sir!"

According to their military positions, the foreign officers saluted the commander who had just been questioned.

"This time they sent you over, did they give you a specific plan of action?"

Although the chief of the head couldn't see his specific face in the dim oil lamp, he was actually not old when he heard the voice, and his tone was full of vitality.

"Report to the chief, the plan of action is in the minds of several of us, and all the permissible provisions prepared for this operation are in the bags of several of us, and the chief can send someone to pick it up at any time."

"Good!"

The principal who sat at the top of the table made it clear, then turned his head and began to admonish the dozen or so people present in a low and serious manner: "Everyone is gathered together now because we have a common ideal, and we are willing to give everything because of this ideal. ”

"Today's plan, although a lot of work has been done above, our Minister Wu and Lord Admiral have been hesitating and unable to make a decision."

"As a high-level executive, they have too many far-reaching thoughts and concerns, and we all understand it, and to put it bluntly, what we are going to do next is really against the consistent style and philosophy of the commander and minister, and if it is exposed, it will damage the reputation of the two leaders."

"So, as subordinates, we don't share their worries at this time, but when?"

"Everyone's saying yes??"

"Yes!!"

The almost unanimous accent came out of the mouths of more than a dozen army generals present, including the new soldiers, all of whom were full of enthusiasm and passion, and at the same time had a spirit of fearlessness.

"Regardless of whether the plan is successful or not, all of us here are afraid that they will inevitably be held accountable by the internal guards afterwards, according to Hongtang's ethics, the worst result will inevitably be the landing of the head, everyone must think about it!!"

"Swear to protect my Hongmen Foundation !!"

The soldiers below replied again without regret!

"Very good, so a few people, tell you about the plan formulated above, let's go and prepare for implementation!"

“…………”

The voice suddenly became muffled, and only a series of voices could be heard in the secret room, but nothing could be heard outside the secret room.

The Hongtang soldiers who came to visit and exchange stayed on Huludao for three or four days before turning back, and not long after they went back, a sea ship from Dayuan Island suddenly docked at the pier of Huludao in the Whale Department.

This sea ship is also strange, not only has no one ever entered or exited on it, but no one has even opened the window, if it were not for the fact that there is a 24-hour guard on the ship, no one is allowed to approach, I am afraid that people will think that it is an empty ship.

The ship docked on Huludao and waited for a short time, only staying for a day and a night, and then left Huludao and headed towards the vast north.

No one knew that in the middle of the night when the ship docked on Hulu Island, the gate of the military camp on Hulu Island suddenly opened, and hundreds of whale soldiers wrapped themselves tightly and quietly boarded the ship.

After more than a month of drifting at sea, in mid-May, the ship finally docked in a small seaside village in Leting County, near Shanhaiguan.

And in this unknown small village, there has been a caravan stationed in the local area for nearly half a month, spending money on the vacant house of a local landlord, rarely going out and walking around every day, and not seeing any business activities for them, except for the thick luggage on the shoulders of the camel horses that I saw when I first entered the village, which made everyone less suspicious of its caravan, all other actions made this caravan full of strange feelings.

"You're finally here, if you don't come again, we'll really have to go!"

The leader of the caravan was a merchant surnamed Chen and other domestic servants from Jinzhong, and this time he was arranged by the master of the family to wait here to receive a group of guests, and take them to the customs with him.

While speaking, the head of the caravan surnamed Chen from the North Lord's family and the main family quietly looked at the more than a dozen tightly wrapped masked people among the guests of this group of more than 100 people.

"Hmph, why don't you give it a try? Let's see if you can make a business trip when you get home? ”

Hurry up all the way, and the tone of those who have been floating on the sea for a month will naturally be a little abnormal, and in the face of the other party's slight complaints, some people immediately dropped their words in a bad manner, which suddenly made the scene a little embarrassing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, the brothers are on fire all the way, and I ask Boss Chen to forgive me!"

Fortunately, someone came out to play a round and apologized to the principal surnamed Chen with a friendly smile, and finally eased the atmosphere.

"Boss Chen, my name is Ma San, this is my eldest brother Niu Si, let's work together next, please take care of it!"

After apologizing, the young man who came out to play the round began to introduce himself.

"It's easy to say, my master has also greeted me, let us listen to your arrangements along the way, I have offended a lot just now, and I hope that the three brothers Ma and the four brothers Niu will bear with me."

As soon as he heard the other party's introduction, the middle-aged man surnamed Chen knew that what the other party said might not be true, and no matter how coincidental it was, the names of the other party were really sloppy, so they were more likely to be a pseudonym.

However, the middle-aged man surnamed Chen doesn't care about the specific real name of the other party, anyway, the owner let himself take this group of people around the territory of the Daqing people in Liaodong, as long as they don't deliberately look for things and cause trouble, with the relationship network that their Chen family has operated on the territory of the Daqing people in Liaodong over the years, and the good attitude of the Jurchens towards them who dare to take risks to trade in the territory of the Daqing people, generally speaking, there will not be much danger.

"Hahaha, take care of each other, take care of each other!!"

A few people casually laughed, while flattering and chatting, the principal surnamed Chen did not forget to welcome Ma San and his group into the door at night, so as not to attract the attention of the villagers in the village.

"I don't know Boss Chen, when are we leaving?"

After the brothers were settled first, Ma San and Niu Si found a middle-aged man surnamed Chen straight to the point.

"You must be a little tired from coming from afar, why don't you just rest in this courtyard for two days, and then we can set off?"

Although his master let him listen to this group of people all the way except for leading the way, but since the other party took the initiative to ask about his attitude, he would not shirk it hypocritically at night and said his thoughts.

"No, our brothers can still endure this little hardship, why don't we leave tonight?"

Niu Si was a little unhappy, and let down the kindness of the middle-aged man surnamed Chen.

"Is it really so hasty to get on the road? Do we still have a lot of dry food to prepare? ”

The middle-aged man surnamed Chen didn't expect that the other party was in such a hurry because he didn't know the actual arrival time of the other party, and he saw that it was about to be the height of summer.

"Then why don't you do it, Boss Chen, you go to prepare dry food and other things tonight, we will rest here for the night, and we will set off early tomorrow morning, how about it?"

It's still Ma Sanming's affairs, playing a round next to him.

"Okay, that's it."

Niu Siyi made a decision, and the decision was made, which made the principal surnamed Chen smile a little more bitterly.

"Oh yes, Boss Chen, please restrain your guys a little more, so that they better not go near our residence, there are a few family members among the brothers, it is not very convenient."

"Oh, okay, okay!"

The principal surnamed Chen suddenly realized, and finally had some clarity on the identities of the dozen or so tightly wrapped guests before, although he was very curious about why this group of people would take a group of women to the wild place where birds don't, but the principal surnamed Chen, who knew all kinds of depths, also responded neatly.

Early the next morning, the principal surnamed Chen instructed the caravan guys to get ready, and in order to tie up Ma San and their gang, the middle-aged man surnamed Chen also bought a few mule carts in the village in addition to buying and making dry food last night: "Brother Ma, since it is inconvenient for you to have female dependents, it is better to let these female dependents sit on this mule cart, which can also save some time." ”

"Thank you very much!"

Ma San glanced at the middle-aged man surnamed Chen in surprise, and then accepted the other party's kindness without hesitation, even Niu Si, who was not friendly to him yesterday, smiled at the other party because of these mule carts, which made the principal surnamed Chen somewhat relieved.

There was not much trouble along the way, as the boss of the camel team who often traveled back and forth between inside and outside the Guan, he could be so relieved by his own proprietor to hand over the team to himself, and the person surnamed Chen had a deep understanding of the situation along the way.

Except for Niu Si, who has been urging themselves to speed up their progress, the rest of what happened on the road was actually not a big problem.

The only thing that makes the middle-aged surnamed Chen curious is the so-called female dependents in those mule carts, since they got on the mule carts, except for the necessary and peeing and need to come out and walk around, they basically don't come out at other times.

Even when it was out, the group of people was tightly surrounded by gray and white scarves, and nothing could be revealed except for one eye.

If it's just these, it is certainly not worth the curiosity of the principal surnamed Chen, after all, Cheng Zhu Lixue has a high status in the Ming Dynasty now, and many high-ranking officials and nobles and Confucian families have very strict requirements for their female dependents, and it is understandable to have such requirements.

But these women don't show their faces, but these people still have a strong smell of incense powder, which seems to be hiding something, and at the same time, the careful principal surnamed Chen found that this line of female dependents was a little delicate when they got on the mule cart before, but compared to the actions on the road now, they are a lot stronger.

It seems that among this group of female dependents, it seems that they are suffering from chronic diseases, and their bones are getting weaker and weaker.

The strangest thing is not this, but that among this group of women, there are always people who suddenly move quickly and normally, as if they are fine, or even like a man, but soon they will change again, slowly becoming weaker and squeamish.

At the same time, Ma San's population is also gradually decreasing, from the previous more than 100 people, after nearly a month of travel, but there are less than 100 people, but quietly there are less than 20 or 30 people, and for these missing people, Ma San and they seem to have no existence of these people, and they don't see their abnormality at all.

Sometimes when resting in the middle of the night, the middle-aged people surnamed Chen can hear some slight movements, it seems that some of Ma San's group have disappeared into the team by taking advantage of the dark night, and then come back before dawn, and after these nights when they have moved, there will always be one or two people who have disappeared.

For all kinds of strange behaviors, although the person surnamed Chen was curious, he kept his duty, neither asked more, nor showed the slightest expression, as if he didn't know something, he did what he had to do, and took Ma Sanyi and his party to move slowly and cautiously in the smuggling mountain road that his caravan had opened up for many years, and gradually marched in the direction of the outside of the pass.

(End of chapter)