When Xu Mingshan stood up and Guan Zhuofan spoke again, his tone was very different from before.

"Xu Mingshan, I also know your difficulties." Guan Zhuofan said softly, "The grain has been changed to shipping, and your brothers always have to find a bite to eat." But on this shijie, there is a lot of business in the right line, and you don't necessarily have to go to the side door. The affairs of the province are presided over by Governor Li, and when it comes to anti-smuggling and theft, Ningjing is also managed by the Gaosi Yamen, so I naturally will not use gunboats to fight the ships of your Cao Gang. However, as a feudal commander, when the war subsides a little, it is inevitable that you will have to ask about the salt affairs, and you must know this yourself. ”

"Yes, I listen to the orders of the commander." Xu Mingshan settled down for a while, and said respectfully, "As long as there is a way out, no one wants to eat that bowl of life-killing rice, and I have been helping the brothers on the ship to find a bite of food on land." It's just that in the past two years, no one has a good time, and there are few places to hire and employ people, so it is not easy to turn around all at once. Fortunately, now there is a big handsome man sitting in Shanghai, and when the long hair is drawn, everyone's life will naturally be better. ”

"You know that, that's good." Guan Zhuofan encouraged him, "Starting from Yongzhengye, the Cao Gang is the royal court's royal gang, so you have to help the court in everything." I'm giving you a way now, so that you can make up for your previous mistakes a little, would you like to? ”

"Yes!" Xu Mingshan said loudly.

Guan Zhuofan raised his hand, and Xiangxia pressed it, signaling that he didn't have to say it so loudly before continuing.

"I am now going to drive the Xuan Army's sailors into Taihu Lake to exterminate the long-haired Taihu Lake Navy!" Guan Zhuofan said in a low and majestic tone. "Now the waterway from the Wangyu River to the Taihu Lake. Take your gang to sell smuggled salt. Most familiar. I want you to find me two of the most haode ships, with the most capable men, and bring my fleet in. Can this be done, but can't it? ”

"Please rest assured, you can do it!" Xu Mingshan's spirits perked up, and he replied in a low voice, "From Gengjingkou in Changshu County to Shadunkou in Taihu Lake, the water depth and flow potential of the whole process. Fifth Brother Chi and they have all measured it with a wire hammer, and even the current of the waterway that crosses Yangcheng Lake is also engraved in their hearts. ”

"Oh?" Guan Zhuofan was surprised, "The trough ship doesn't go there, the ship that sells smuggled salt, what do you do?" ”

"Habit becomes nature." Xu Mingshan said embarrassedly, "I just don't know what the draft of the handsome gunboat is?" ”

"This ......" Guan Zhuofan paused and looked at Ding Ruchang, "This Ding Counselor General." It's my sailor who will tell you. ”

"Seven feet and one inch." Ding Ruchang on the side. opened his mouth to answer for Guan Zhuofan.

"That works!" After Xu Mingshan finished speaking, he hesitated a little, "It's just the section of Changshu, where the long hair has a water card and a fort ......."

"You don't have to worry about this, you just need to take care of the things on the waterway, and you will see the credit. When the long hair is tied, I will naturally help you think of a way out for the children of the Green Gang. It wasn't until now that a smile appeared on Guan Zhuofan's face, "Xu Mingshan, I asked General Ding Shen to take you to the Water Division's Yamen to live, you don't have to go back in the next two days, and discuss it with General Ding and General He on the river." When it's settled, I'll ask Túrin to accompany you back to the gang and assign everything. ”

Xu Mingshan understood-such a big event, of course, no leakage is allowed, and in the future, Tulin will accompany him back to help, and there is really a guardianship in it. This is the proper meaning of the question, and there is nothing to say, so he bowed and said: "Yes, I listened to the orders of General Ding and Tu Guerrilla." ”

When Ding Ruchang and Xu Mingshan bowed and retreated, Tulin couldn't help but raise a question in his heart.

"Master, Xu Mingshan's time can make you scared enough."

"Well," Guan Zhuofan looked at Tulin with a smile, "Do you think that he has done things for me, and I can be polite to him?" ”

"I don't dare." Túrin blushed and snorted, "As long as the master tells him what to do, he won't dare not do his best." ”

"These characters on the rivers and lakes have a lot of crooked intestines in their stomachs, I sent you to deal with them, there are some things that you have to ponder more." Guan Zhuofan sighed softly, "Today's matter, if I come up and say it directly, it will become that I have a request for him, and I have to owe him a favor." What now? It's me who gives him a chance to make amends! You have to understand the difference. ”

I see! Túrin suddenly realized that he really admired his mind as a master.

"You go to the telegraph room and send a telegram to Ding Shijie." Guan Zhuofan knew that he understood, and turned to the right thing, "Order Daniel Zhang to lead the horse team, gallop back to Kunshan, rendezvous with Huaer, rush to Changshu County, and take it within three days!" ”

"Huh!"

Túrin agreed, turned around and left, but was stopped by Guan Zhuofan again.

"Send another one and tell them five words," Guan Zhuofan said with a smile, word by word, "I also have a water master." ”

*

*

The naval camp of the Taiping Army is located on the east side of Xishan Island in Taihu Lake, about ten miles away from the east shore of Taihu Lake. Because today I just fought a battle with the Hunan Army's naval division under Li Chaobin's command, and now the sailors of the Taiping Army are busy arranging oil and hemp, repairing ship boards, carrying guns and cannons, and preparing to fight again tomorrow.

"Lord Wang, although it is a win or defeat today, tomorrow I must be Li Chaobin's good-looking!" Sun Sixi, the chief commander of the Taihu Lake Water Army, said to Tang Zhengcai, the "King of Navigation", "I don't know what crazy he is, with his hundreds of broken boats, he dares to come to the prince to argue." ”

Tang Zhengcai, who was full of beard, slowly stroked his beard and did not speak, because he was also wondering why his subordinate Li Chaobin, the defeated general, dared to leave the Fujing Water Village on the west bank of Taihu Lake and rashly cross Taihu Lake to challenge him.

Tang Zhengcai is a native of Qiyang, Hunan, and his experience of joining the Taiping Army is quite legendary. He was originally a timber merchant and was good at boating, and once when he was trafficking goods, the fleet passed through Yuezhou, and happened to encounter the Taiping army attacking Changsha. Therefore, he not only dedicated all the goods he transported to the Taiping Army, but also united with other ship owners to join the Taiping Army. As a result, he was appreciated by Yang Xiuqing, the "King of the East". Sailors of the Taiping Army. It is from the addition of Tang Zhengcai.

There are two things he is most proud of in his life. First, the Hunan army sailors who defeated Peng Yulin in Jinggang almost forced the Zeng demon head to death; The second is to cooperate with the land division, thousands of ships covered the river, broke Jiujiang, Anqing, and Jiangning, and was named the "king of navigation" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom by Hong Xiuquan.

Now in Taihu Lake, he commanded the Taihu Lake Naval Army of the Taiping Army, defeated the Hunan Army Naval Division several times, and beat Li Chaobin to shrink in the water village. hung up the war-free card, refused to come out even if he died, but now he is openly fighting, is he being forced by the imperial court to be anxious?

"You can't be careless." Tang Zhengcai, who was called "Tang Beard" by the Hunan army, still touched his thick beard and said in a deep voice, "Since he is here, he naturally has the heart to fight to the death." Now the situation on land is not very good, and the Xuan army of Guan Demon Head is very ghostly, and it only attacked Changshu four days ago. Sunan can hold on. It's all up to the support of our navy, so there can be no more accidents on the water. Tomorrow's battle, we must fight a big victory! ”

"Don't worry, the prince!" The fierce Sun Sixi is ready for tomorrow's battle, "Tomorrow I will personally lead an army to fight the vanguard, and ask the prince to be on the flagship of the Chinese army and watch me use the 'turtle boat' to defeat Li Chaobin." ”

The Taiping Army's naval army is customized according to the land division, five people are in the army, one is the army commander, the five troops are two, and there is a "two Sima", also called the management chief, which is progressively higher than the upper layer, a hundred lengths, a brigade commander, a division commander, until the army commander. The Taihu Lake Naval Army, a total of three armies, if according to the establishment, each army should have 13,000 people, but at this time, the Taiping Army, like the official army, the situation of floating and indiscriminate is also very serious, the entire Taihu Lake Naval Army, a total of only more than 20,000 people, large and small ships, there are more than 1,000.

However, even so, it is still stronger than the sailors of the Hunan army, especially if there is a sharp weapon that can be relied upon, that is, the "turtle boat" mentioned by Sun Sixi.

At that time, the ships used by the naval forces of the two opposing sides were not warships in the true sense of the word. The sailors of the Hunan army, with long dragons, fast crabs and sampans as the main force, and the sailors of the Taiping army, were mostly large civilian ships and large merchant ships that came from the conquest - the big ones were big, but they were not so easy to use in battle. For this reason, Tang Zhengcai deliberately concentrated giant trees to build more than 30 two-story "warships", and used tough and thick old bamboos, bundled together in rows as a "city wall", to protect the ship from the wind, as if a thick layer of tortoise shell for the ship, ordinary cannons can not be damaged. In the meantime, the cannon holes were vacated, and the guns were arranged, and each ship had more than 20 cannons, and it was invincible for a while, and Li Chaobin had no way to take this "turtle boat".

"Good!" For Sun Sixi's sharpness, Tang Zhengcai deeply appreciated, "I asked Jian Dongren to lead another army to be your flank, and echo at any time." I will personally lead the Chinese army and press the formation for you! ”

The next day, as soon as the sky was bright, the Taiping army's outpost on the north side of Xishan Island had already issued a siren - the Hunan army's sailors were coming!

Xishan Island is 20 miles wide from north to south and 30 miles long from east to west. The Taiping Army, which had long been on standby, immediately poured out of the nest, with the first army led by Sun Sixi as the vanguard, thousands of sails racing, shaking like flying, from the south of Xishan Island around the island, in the southernmost corner of the lake outside the nunnery, to meet the Hunan army's fleet.

Because they met around the island, they were greeted by one boat at first, then five, ten, hundreds, hundreds. The northwest wind rose very strongly, and Sun Sixi, who was in the downwind, was ordering to speed up to the west, to level out the advantages and disadvantages brought by the wind, but in the rattling sound of the lake waves hitting the shore, he faintly heard a low and strange roar, as if it was a monster at the bottom of the lake, waking up, to show its power to the people on the lake.

What is it? Could it be the legendary Taihu Lake buffalo? Sun Sixi on the turtle boat and the officers on the side looked at each other, and saw that on the sentry tower on the shore, the soldiers on the lookout were desperately waving their flags, and they kept shouting, but they couldn't hear what they were shouting.

"No matter!" At this time, there was no way to hesitate, Sun Sixi made up his mind, "Beat the drum!" Flag! Defeat Li Chaobin! ”

The huge fleets of the two sides are getting closer and closer, and it will not be long before they can enter the distance of engagement. On the side of the Taiping Army, the drums had already sounded to the sky, and the soldiers on the ship with yellow cloth and Baotou shouted in unison, and the momentum alone had already suppressed the Hunan Army's naval division.

At this moment, I saw the sailors of the Hunan Army, such as Lin Qiaofan, and suddenly slowly sailed to the left and right, revealing the shadows of the two huge boats in the middle, separating the waves and coming towards them.

*

(Xiexie vintage gramophone is red again~)

*(To be continued......)