Chapter 120: Sailing to Quanzhou and encountering pirates

After the opening ceremony of the Yangzhou Department Store, Li Mao sent someone to inform Fan Chengkun and Mu Yi to come over with a company of Marine brothers and ask them to accompany Zhang Zhimu and them to Quanzhou.

Ouyang He saw that there were enough people to follow Zhang Zhimu to Quanzhou this time, and said to Zhang Zhimu: "Mr. Zhang, I won't go with you when I go to Quanzhou this time." I'll go straight back to my hometown from here to see, and when you come back, I can go back to the kiln with you. I also want to stay at home for a few more days this time to see if I can bring as many people back to the kiln as possible. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "That's fine, but I'll let Li Jing give you ten people, and then let Li Mao send you ten people here, you take it." As long as you keep quiet, with these people, plus your own people, you can deal with it in general. ”

"Good! Mr. Zhang, I take these people with me. But there is one thing, I want to remind Mr. Zhang, when we arrived in Fujian, we have not met Zheng Zhilong and them. Can I get in touch with them this time? On the coast of Fujian, their power is very large. It is said that the Zheng family now has more than 200,000 troops and more than 3,000 merchant ships. Almost all of them from Fujian to the southeast coast are their sphere of influence. Our reputation is so great, they will definitely notice us. Their 'Heaven and Earth Society' is also not to be underestimated. In the past two days, I even thought about whether the two groups of people in Huai'an had them. The 'Heaven and Earth Society' people are experts in stealing chickens and dogs, and they are secretly competing with Jinyiwei, and there are no fewer conflicts. It can be seen that Ouyang He still attaches great importance to this Zheng Jing group and his group.

Zhang Zhimu still knows a little about Zheng Zhilong, the father of Zheng Chenggong that everyone knew in his previous life.

In the 16th century, during the era of great navigation, the very famous armed maritime groups included the Dutch East India Company, the British East India Company, Zheng Zhilong's Yiguan Party, and Li Dan's Party. In order to protect their own trade business, these armed maritime groups have their own armed forces to avoid being harassed by pirates, but they are often also competitors in trade who are also merchants and thieves.

This Zheng Zhilong's nickname is Yiguan. Ancestral home in Henan, Fujian Quanzhou Prefecture Nan'an Shijing Township. Zhilong is handsome and chic, eclectic, he didn't like to read when he was young, he was very powerful, he liked to dance with guns and sticks, and he was not only famous for his bravery, but also versatile. He is fluent in Hokkien, Nanjing Mandarin, Japanese, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, and is enthusiastic about learning swordsmanship, and can also play the Spanish guitar.

At the beginning, Zheng Zhilong followed the overseas Chinese pirate merchant Li Dan on Hirado Island, Japan, because Zheng Zhilong was multilingual, starting from working as a translator and other work, he gradually became Li Dan's right-hand man, and won Li Dan's trust, after Li Dan's death, Zheng Zhilong gradually took over his power. After he took over Li Dan's business fleet, he ran a legal business, and the other hand specialized in smuggling.

After Zhilong moved his business focus from Kyushu Island, Japan to Taiwan, he attached himself to Yan Siqi, the "Japanese snail" (the leader of the Japanese Kou). Shortly thereafter, the Dutch East India Company landed on the island and expelled other Taiwan-based powers, and Zheng Zhilong and his wife settled in Fujian.

After the death of Yan Siqi, Zheng Zhilong integrated the pirate leaders, known as the Eighteen Zhi, and had the most powerful military and commercial team along the coast of Fujian at that time, leading tens of thousands of pirates, operating smuggling and looting businesses, and rampaging in the Taiwan Strait.

Zheng Zhilong is a person who can see current affairs very clearly, and he feels that piracy is not a long-term thing after all, whether it is the Dutch East India Company or the British East India Company, they all have the background of the national government, so it is smooth to do things. Therefore, Zheng Zhilong led his troops to accept the imperial court's recruitment, surrendered to the Ming Dynasty as an official, and continued to lead his subordinates to begin to garrison the coast for the Ming court, prevent pirates and Dutch from attacking, and lead the army to crusade against other former sworn brother pirate forces.

Zheng Zhilong, with his extraordinary talent, quickly defeated the fleet of the Dutch East India Company and quelled the pirates that had been rampant on the southeast coast for hundreds of years. It has become the only power in the ocean world of East China and South China.

Although Zheng Zhilong was born as a pirate, he was very clever in doing things, on the one hand, he added the business of the flag business (sea preservation) to his own fleet of the official party, and on the other hand, he organized another group of Japanese people to specially harass the fleet that did not apply for the protection of the official party flag, established his own prestige on the coast, and effectively reduced the occurrence of self-employed piracy.

Zhang Zhimu knew that if he wanted to develop at sea in the future, defeating Zheng Zhilong was probably a premise. But I don't have the strength to reach here now, if I can pay some protection money and ask for peace.

"In my opinion, we don't have to contact Zheng Zhilong and them too early now. We don't have the capital to negotiate with others, we don't have merchant ships at sea, and the ships we use are all rented. The banner they hang shows that they have paid the protection fee. I don't know how much silver they have to hand over to Zheng Zhilong for each ship? Zhang Zhimu asked.

"It is said that each great ship has to pay three thousand taels of silver a year. Their various incomes can add up to tens of millions every year, I don't know if it's true or not? ”

"I think it's possible! During the Song Dynasty, the annual income of the imperial court was tens of millions of taels. Most of it is tax silver for overseas trade. Now the Ming Dynasty is closing the country and implementing a sea ban. As a result, they couldn't help it if they really had the ability, and the silver was earned by Zheng Zhilong and them. However, if a large navy cannot bring in huge maritime trade revenues, no one can afford to support it. Because raising the sea and military is really a matter of spending money. Zhang Zhimu said.

"Yes! I'm worried, our warship meets Zheng Zhilong and them at sea, do we fight or not? "Ouyang He is still very thoughtful about the problem.

"Don't forget, Mr. Ouyang. Our ships are warships, and we try not to fight them. If they have to force us to do it, we don't have to be polite. Because of our steamships, if they tried to run, they couldn't catch up. Besides, their gun shots are too bad. Zhang Zhimu said.

"I see, I'd better go to Quanzhou with you!" Ouyang He was not at ease.

"Haha! I said Mr. Ouyang, you better relax and go home. We will try our best to avoid Zheng Zhilong and them, and try not to do anything if we can. Zhang Zhimu said with a smile.

"Mr. Zhang, you have to know. Zheng Zhilong and they have 3,000 warships, which is a large force at sea. We have a branch in Quanzhou, which is Zheng Zhilong's sphere of influence. Now we'd better not fall out with them. Ouyang He was still not at ease.

"Yes! In the future, when we go to the ocean, the first hurdle is likely to be this Zheng Zhilong. Zhang Zhimu already regarded Zheng Zhilong as an opponent in his heart.

This time he went to Quanzhou, and Li Mao wanted to go with Zhang Zhimu. Before leaving, Zhang Zhimu and the others had a meeting.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Tomorrow, we will go to Zhenjiang from here to Zhenjiang and take a boat to Quanzhou." The opening of our Yangzhou department store is very good. It has greatly expanded our influence and deepened the understanding of all walks of life in Yangzhou. Before we go, there are a few things to arrange. First, we are going to recruit students and all kinds of talents in Yangzhou this time, and we must strike while the iron is hot and seize the opportunity; Second, all walks of life in Yangzhou have a request, which is to expand our power generation, and they all hope to use electric lighting. I saw that this could be done, so we decided to build a larger power plant in Yangzhou. But how to charge, Mr. Lu, you study; The third is what I have been thinking about these days, we are going to install the phone of the Yangzhou branch. If the telephone and telegraph of Huai'an are connected here, it will be convenient to contact Huai'an here. That's what I'm thinking about, let's see if you have anything to add? ”

Lu Chengxiang said: "We didn't expect Yangzhou Mall to be so strong in selling goods, and Li Gongzi and I arranged a lot of goods in advance. I didn't expect it to be empty soon. I have already informed the ship in Huai'an that after returning to Yaogang, I will bring some more goods over. Our 10,000 war horses should have been sold out in Kaifeng and Xuzhou. But 10,000 horses will be coming soon. Is it shipped to Yangzhou? ”

"These horses have been transported! It wasn't until last night that the Eight Kings returned. I've always thought it was strange that the people of the Eight Kings had always been in Yangzhou, but when I came back this time, I found that none of them were there. I wondered if Huai'an's affair had something to do with them, and they didn't dare to show up until they found out that those people in Huai'an had not revealed their identities. Li Mao said.

"Huh! Let's not speculate on this matter until we have evidence. Even if there is evidence, it depends on what is done in our favor. Do they want our horses? Zhang Zhimu said.

"Song Tao didn't come over this time, and the person who came back said that if it was a real war horse, he could settle down to 20,000 horses. As for whether you want to wait for Song Tao to come back. Therefore, it is no problem to transport these 10,000 horses. Even if they don't want it, it's not too much of a problem for us to sell it in Yangzhou. Li Mao said, "There is also a strange thing, Zuo Liangyu's people also disappeared in Yangzhou." Originally, I wanted to contact him about the war horses, but their people were gone. ”

"Forget it, we don't have to worry about them, we still prepare to bring the goods back to Nanyang for Lu Qi, and rush to Quanzhou as soon as possible, what I dream of now is Mr. Lin Zongwei's ** lucky ship." Zhang Zhimu said.

Since they were going to leave Yangzhou and Benzhenjiang early tomorrow morning, Zhang Zhimu, Liu Banzhu, and Xiao Hongyu would say goodbye first.

Liu said: "Now I am also like an arrow. But there are still some things in Yangzhou, and I will go home to see after tomorrow after tomorrow after the day after tomorrow. A lot of people want to talk to me, and I want to talk about it all while it's hot. ”

"Alas! I originally thought that if you have time in Yangzhou, please come to our hometown to have a look. I didn't expect you to go to Quanzhou. I also want to see you in Quanzhou, but I haven't seen my sister for a long time. It would be too bad if I didn't go home and have a look. No way! Xiao Hongyu's eyes made Zhang Zhimu quickly avoid it.

"It's time to go home and see. You have been going to Yaogang for two years this time, and I don't know how much your family misses you. It's not that I can't see each other, I came back from Quanzhou, we met in Yangzhou, and went back to Yaogang together. If possible, bring the rest of the family with you. Wouldn't you be able to be together? The conditions in our kiln are much better! Zhang Zhimu said.

Originally, Zhang Zhimu wanted Yang Jing to accompany Ouyang He back to his hometown, but Zhang Zhimu was not very happy when he saw Yang Jing arrive in Yangzhou, so he asked him to find out. He felt that Zhang Zhimu had such a big incident in Huai'an, and he was not around, so he felt very uneasy. Because Yang Yulin repeatedly told him not to leave Zhang Zhimu's side, but he and Lu Chengxiang stayed in Kaifeng and waited for Yan Boju and them. He was afraid that his sister Yang Yulin would complain about him if she found out.

Zhang Zhimu smiled and said, "Hehe! That's why you're here. In fact, you stay in Kaifeng and let Mr. Lu and Uncle Yan be fine, this is a great achievement. I have Li Jing, Li Yunhe, and Li Mao by my side, and I will be fine. You don't have to worry. ”

But Zhang Zhimu said that he would let Yang Jing leave him, and Yang Jing would stop doing it.

Yangzhou to Zhenjiang was not far away, but because there were too many boats on the canal, Zhang Zhimu and his fleet did not arrive at Zhenjiang Wharf until the afternoon. The two warships on the dock had already been notified that Zhang Zhimu and they were coming, and they were already ready to wait here. When the ship arrived, the cargo had to be transferred from the barge to the warship. Because barges cannot travel on the sea, they are all used for inland waterway transportation. Fortunately, a large number of goods have already been shipped, and the goods transported this time did not take too long to be transferred.

After a night in Zhenjiang, the two warships set sail early the next morning.

The boat left Zhenjiang Wharf and entered the Yangtze River, sailing all the way east to the rising sun. Zhang Zhimu stood at the bow of the boat and admired the rising sun, letting the river breeze blow on his face, feeling very comfortable.

Seeing Lin Zongwei, Zhang Zhimu shouted: "Mr. Lin, are you excited to go home?" ”

"Haha! It's so homesick. In fact, I can't leave Lingshui Pier at all, but I am also more concerned about the ** lucky boat. This time I must go back and make arrangements. Lin Zongwei replied, "I just don't know if they received the letter I brought back home last time?" ”

"Alright! It's useless for us to be in a hurry, we have been resting slowly at sea in the past few days, and we know everything when we arrive in Quanzhou. Zhang Zhimu said, "Can you introduce Zheng Zhilong's affairs, I'm very interested in this person." ”

"Speaking of Zheng Zhilong, he is not an ordinary person. Call him a pirate, but the people don't hate him. If this person knew that someone's family was without food or drink, he would send grain and rice. Without him, the people of Fujian don't know how many people can't make a living. Lin Zongwei still has a good impression of Zheng Zhilong.

"This is all the court's maritime ban. Many people in the coastal areas of Fujian have lived on overseas trade for thousands of years, and the imperial court has cut off everyone's livelihood and forced everyone to engage in smuggling, so the people naturally tend to give them people to live. Zhang Zhimu said, also thinking about his previous life, this is also the most powerful place for smuggling, and it seems that there is a tradition. At that time, it was the party, the government, and the army who engaged in smuggling together. A friend's hometown is the brigade secretary armed smuggling with the militia company commander. I went to Shishi once, and it was an eye-opener.

"Fujian has many mountains and little land, and if you don't do trade, you won't have enough to eat, and there is no way." Lin Zongwei explained.

"This Zheng Zhilong is also an official and a thief, don't the court officials know?" Zhang Zhimu asked.

"He had more silver than the imperial court, and the officials listened to him. Officials who don't listen to him can't do it. He now has not only a fleet, but also an army. They have a small court in Nan'an. Now the court can't help him, otherwise it won't recruit him. Every year, he only gave a small amount of silver to the imperial court, and the rest was his own. But with Zheng Zhilong, almost all the pirates at sea have killed him. The pirate ships that are now being robbed at sea are basically their Zheng family. As long as they find out that your ship does not have the Zheng family's order flag, they will not be able to run away when they encounter the Zheng family's pirate ship. Forcing all ships to pay protection money. Lin Zongwei said.

Li Mao came over and asked, "If our warship encounters the pirate ship of Zheng Zhilong's family, what will we do?" ”

"If you can pay some money, it's better to ignore them. We can't fight them now. Wait until our steel-hulled ship and 130 cannons are built. Lin Zongwei suggested.

"I'm afraid we won't be able to hide." Zhang Zhimu said. "Tell Fan Chengkun that if you encounter the Zheng family's pirate ship, if you have to do it, you must not leave it alive."

"I estimate that with Zheng Zhilong's strength now, they will definitely notice us Yaogang people. We also need to think about how we will deal with them in the future. Li Mao said.

The boat was quite stable on the Yangtze River, but when it came out of the mouth of the Yangtze River at night, the sea was very windy and rough, and the boat shook very much. Zhang Zhimu was also dizzy. Only Lu Chengxiang, who was born without seasickness, did not delay anything. It wasn't until two days later that the sea was a little lighter. Zhang Zhimu just wanted to take a look on the deck, and Fan Chengkun came in and said: "Two lucky ships like us were found at sea, and they have been parallel to us. ”

Zhang Zhimu and Fan Chengkun came to the deck, Lin Zongwei was looking into the distance with a telescope, and when he saw Zhang Zhimu and Fan Chengkun coming over, he said, "It's strange! These two ships are not flag-bearing, and the draft is very shallow, so it is not sure that it is Zheng Zhilong's pirate ship. They found out that we didn't have the Zheng family's order flag, as if they were watching us, and it was more likely that they were waiting for other warships, and they wanted to gather a few ships and intercept us at once. ”

Fan Chengkun said: "Now the boat is a bit headwind, we can use the speed rate to drive them." ”

"Don't worry! If it was the Zheng family's ship, they must have many more ships ahead. Punching is not the way to go. "Lin Zongwei is very experienced, and he deserves to be a family of seafaring shipbuilding.

Zhang Zhimu said: "If they have arranged a lot of boats along the way, we don't want to be known by others, and it will be difficult for us to do it with them." But if we are sure that they are against us, we can go back downwind and steer them north, as far away from the ship in front of them as possible. They couldn't hear the cannon so far away. ”

"That's right, then the floating objects on the sea will be blown north by the sea breeze." Fan Chengkun said.

"Now cover our weapons with tarpaulins, and the fight will be so sudden." Zhang Zhimu commanded.

Just as he had walked two more hours to the south, four more warships appeared in front of him. Putting down the binoculars in his hand, Lin Zongwei said: "There is no doubt that it is the Zheng family's ship." Now only the Zheng family has such warships. They are in contact, and in a moment they will hang up the Hachiman Great Bodhisattva flag and pretend to be a Wako. ”

"It seems that you can't hide, I don't know how the infantry gunners trained by Li Wei are, can they show their faces with flat-fire guns?" Zhang Zhimu said.

"No problem, after a while they change flags, we will turn around and run back, keep a distance from them, lead them a little farther away, and then turn back to clean them up, anyway, they can't outrun us, and the cannon is not as far as us. Our marines also have heavy machine guns. I'm going to open the meat today. Fan Chengkun said.

The ship's observer shouted, "They're starting to outflank us left and right." ”

"Watch and see if they change their flags?" Fan Chengkun asked.

"Nope!"

"Huh? Changed, changed! It's a pirate flag! ”

Zhang Zhimu and the telescopes in their hands were all raised to watch from a distance, Fan Chengkun ordered, "Send a signal to another ship, we have encountered a pirate ship, now turn around and head north, let them keep a distance from our ship!" ”

Mu Yi was on another boat, saw Fan Chengkun and their flags, understood Fan Chengkun's intentions, and began to turn around and pull up the full sail and go north. Now there are six warships flying pirate flags, ready to intercept Zhang Zhimu and the two ships. These ships were veterans of raiding at sea. They had heard that the Yaogang people of Shanxi had changed their warships to be powered by steam, and it was said that they were very fast and powerful. But these pirates who are naturally adventurous and exciting are not convinced, and today the wind and waves are a little smaller, and they found two lucky ships emitting black smoke, which they did not expect. After observing it for a while, they felt that it was nothing remarkable. But for the sake of safety, they still patiently waited until they encountered the other four warships, and then contacted these four warships, and decided to take down the two steam warships together, and also see what the steam warships were like. In their eyes, these two steamships are already in their pockets. Because of the six-to-two ratio, and they are all veterans at sea, they should be sure to win.

However, they did not expect that their opponents were also very experienced, so they turned around and pulled up the full sails and ran north with the wind. According to past experience, it will be difficult to pursue in this case. Because there is no skill in this kind of pursuit, he can only use his own boat to have a slight advantage of shallow draft, and chase slowly. There is no other way.

The two fleeing steamships in front of them didn't see any speed advantage, and the distance was still a little closer. The warships pursuing behind gradually formed a fan-shaped formation in the process of pursuit, encircling both sides of the target.

Zhang Zhimu said: "It seems that Zheng Zhilong doesn't have any clever tactics." After a little more run, we'll go back and pack them up, so that it won't get dark until night, and I guess these six boats will follow. ”

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Five-line scores, oscillating circuits, caesarean sections. Guo Shoujing made alloy cannons, and Guan Hanqing created "Journey to the West". --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".