This time out of the harvest is still very big, first in Cangzhou to make friends with Chai Jin, Chai Jin is a famous family, although the martial arts are average, but this person is not small in business, and has a wide range of contacts, is a talent. The Daimyo's friendship with Lu Junyi was unsuccessful, but he happened to meet Xu Guanzhong to join, Xu Guanzhong Wenwu Shuangquan is a rare figure, knows many Chinese, has great talent in language and is proficient in the art of war, Wen Taowu is proficient. Zhending Mansion found two fierce men, Xu Ye and Wen Zhongrong, although they are not masters, but the second- and third-rate generals can still be ranked, and they will be fierce generals in the future with a little training in the army. Pudong didn't find Tang Bin, but he got acquainted with Hao Siwen, who is skilled in bows and horses and is also a rare talent. Yan'an Mansion also successfully got acquainted with Lu Daluti, and it was finally worth the trip.

A group of people stayed overnight, and walked more than 400 miles after leaving Yan'an Mansion for three days, Wu Yong said: "I heard that there are many scholars in Jingzhou, literati and military generals, why don't we take the opportunity to go over and visit." ”

"Jingzhou Hubei has always been outstanding, heroes everywhere, but we have only been developing in Yuncheng for more than half a year, although it can be regarded as a strong soldier and strong with enough money and food, but there are also many potential enemies, so it is better to return early, in recent days, my eyelids have jumped greatly, and I always feel that something has happened." Chao Gai said.

Wu Yong thought for a moment and said, "Okay, that's true, let's go back as soon as possible." ”

Chao Gai and the others sped up, the two horses rode in turn, walking more than 200 miles a day, and finally returned to their hometown after a long absence. As soon as I walked to Shijie Village, I saw that there were several families wearing filial piety and doing funerals.

"Uncle Ruan, what's the situation. Why is there a funeral in the village? Chao Gai asked.

Ruan Ying sighed: "This Chao Tuan Lian has just come back, I don't know the specifics, Ruan Xiaoqi refuses to say, but three people died in the water army this time, two of them are from our village." ”

"Oh, okay, then we'll go back first." Chao Gai said.

Chao Gai arranged for Li Kui and Pang Wanchun to take Xu Guanzhong back to the infantry camp first, and then Chao Gai, Wu Yong, and Jiao Ting came to the naval camp quickly.

Chao Gai saw Ruan Xiaoqi in the tent, and when he saw Chao Gai, Ruan Xiaoqi immediately stood up and saluted.

"Brother, Xiao Qi failed to bring all the brothers back, so he has the trust of his brother." Ruan Xiaoqi said sadly.

Chao Gai said: "What is the specific situation?" ”

Wu Yong said: "Don't worry, sit down and talk in detail." ”

Ruan Xiaoqi, Chao Gai, and Wu Yong sat down, and Ruan Xiaoqi told the story in detail, and it turned out that the caravan led by Hu Cheng Chaowei that day was loaded with silk, porcelain, spices, dried fish, tea and other goods and went to sea. Ruan Xiaoqi and Kong Yang led a hundred sailors and three centipede boats to escort the team. The big banner of Yuncheng regimental training is waving, and the sea is unimpeded all the way. Hu Cheng is very experienced in business, and first gave a heavy gift to the officials in charge of the management of Daliao from the mouth of the Haihe River, and the fleet was able to dock, of course, the sailors will not be easily exposed.

Due to the coming of winter, these five ships of goods are very sought-after, it took less than half a month to sell out and obtain a large amount of gold and silver, and at the same time to purchase a large number of cowhide and sheepskin, as well as a hundred horses, if it is not for the limited purchase of thousands of horses by the Bird Ship Warehouse.

Followed by the fleet to continue along the coastline, arrived at the mouth of the Yalu River, Chao Wei led people ashore, and spent half a month to purchase more than 2,000 ginseng, as well as thousands of catties of other medicinal materials produced in Changbai Mountain, etc., the purchase price is very low, but it is transported back to the Central Plains that is a high price, not to mention ten times the windfall profit. Chao Wei continued to stay in Changbai Mountain to preside over the acquisition of medicinal materials, while the others returned to Yuncheng.

Everyone was very happy, this trip to the sea to do business was a lot of money, and they returned along the coastline. The weather was sunny on this day, the sea was calm, the wind and the sun were beautiful, and it was about to go to the sea off Qingzhou, so whether it was a caravan or a sailor accompanying the escort, it was the first time for Ruan Xiaoqi Kong Yang to carry out the mission to the sea, from the high tension at the beginning, to now it feels like no big deal, so he is a little relaxed.

The sailor soldier in charge of the lookout suddenly pointed ahead and shouted: "There are more than 20 clippers ahead, and there are still five or six miles of land. ”

There were no binoculars in these years, and Ruan Xiaoqi raised his eyes to see that the clipper was not slow, and he was rowing over.

Kong Yang said: "It's not good, it's a pirate, immediately put the whole army on alert." ”

Ruan Xiaoqi asked, "How can you see it?" ”

"Fishing boats don't use fast boats, and besides, there are more than 20 fishing boats gathered together to fish." Kong Yang Road.

Ruan Xiaoqi said: "This road is in a panic, and the whole army and caravan are ordered to be on alert." ”

When the order was delivered, the sailors on the merchant ship were a little flustered, looking for bows and arrows, knives and guns one by one, and preparing to meet them under the command of their respective captains. The navy army was much calmer, lifting the cover on the giant crossbow and the sleeping cow cannon, adding a mystery to the giant crossbow and loading the sleeping cow cannon with ammunition.

Three centipede boats sailed directly in front of the flotilla.

Soon, the clipper approached, Kong Yang was shocked, and said, "It's actually the pirate Black Sand, and they have a sign on their flag." ”

"Are these pirates awesome?" After all, Ruan Xiaoqi grew up in Shuibo, where did he know how powerful pirates were.

"This group of pirates is pure pirates, other pirates will also talk about benevolence and righteousness, robbing goods and money will not hurt people's lives, this black sand pirates are different, they dare to do anything to kill people and goods, in addition to robbing property, they are often used to killing people for fun, which can be described as extremely cruel." Kong Yang said, "As early as three years ago, I heard that this group of pirates had been exterminated by the Dengzhou Navy, and I don't know how they appeared again today. ”

Ruan Xiaoqi nodded solemnly: "It's a pirate, all of them will be changed to rockets, don't have to keep your hands, and fight hard." ”

Two miles away, the pirates' smirks could be heard from afar, and they could even be seen dancing happily.

The observer was observing the approximate distance, and soon entered five hundred meters, the giant crossbowman had already begun to aim, Ruan Xiaoer did not give an order, the hit rate of the giant crossbow at this distance was very low, until it reached a distance of three hundred meters, Ruan Xiaoqi waved the flag and said, "Ignite, launch." ”

The soldier with the torch first ignites the ignition in front of the crossbow, and then the crossbowman aims at the pirate ship and pulls the trigger. Eighteen giant crossbows shot out like eighteen fiery dragons, bang, bang, bang. The three pirate ships were hit by arrows, and the pirates who were shot by the giant crossbow screamed, but today there was no wind, and the pirate ship did not use sails, so the fire area was very small, and it was quickly extinguished by the pirates.

Seeing that the caravan ship had a giant crossbow, an inconspicuous pirate ship led by a scarlet face covering his left eye scolded viciously: "Straight lady thief, why is the caravan still equipped with a giant crossbow, who is responsible for listening to the news." ”

"It's a little bus." A master-like figure in the back said.

"Minibus, come here." The one-eyed pirate leader called Xiao Bazi, who was obscene and was already a middle-aged pirate, seeing that the boss was a little scared, but he didn't dare not come, he came over tremblingly and knelt down on the deck and said: "I beg the boss to forgive me, I will definitely investigate seriously next time." The little bus said.

The one-eyed pirate laughed, "Next time?" Next time you're serious? Suddenly, his face turned cold, and a scimitar was pulled out of nowhere, and it slashed out like lightning, and with a click, the obscene head of the little bazi was separated from the body.

The one-eyed pirate leader lifted the little bazi's head and said, "Is there a next time, because of your negligence, you lost a dozen brothers in just one round." ”

Seeing that the little bazi was killed, the pirates did not feel afraid, but licked their lips bloodthirsty one by one.

The one-eyed pirate leader raised his scimitar and shouted, "Rush, rush, the crossbow is very slow." ”

More than twenty clippers flew up, and sure enough, as the pirate leader said, the clippers charged a hundred meters and fired the giant crossbow again, this time the distance was closer, and three of them were hit, and they were qualified to continue the charge, but there were still twenty of them.

Ruan Xiaoqi kept saying: "Steady, steady, don't panic, just a few pirates, just like when you usually train." The archers are ready, the lying bull gunners are ready, and the cargo ship sailors are also ready to engage in battle. ”

There were six lying bull cannons on the three centipede ships, and when the pirate clipper entered the range of 200 meters, the six cannons fired in unison, with a huge rumbling sound and thick smoke, and the pirates on the three pirate ships were only wearing cloth clothes and no armor, and they were almost completely wiped out by scattered bullets.

The continuous firing speed of the Lying Bull Cannon is relatively fast, and it takes fifty or sixty seconds after firing, but the gunner is a little nervous when he sees the pirate ship approaching, which affects the speed of the launch.

There were still sixteen clippers when the pirate ship approached, and the pirates began to fire arrows. Kong Yang also held a bow and arrow, commanded the naval army, and shouted: "The time has come to kill the enemy, and if it is a man, kill it fiercely." "Shoot a pirate with an arrow.

The melee sailors had a great advantage, each ship had fifteen crossbows, and almost instantly shot down fifty or sixty pirates, and then the Lying Bull Cannon rang out again, directly destroying the two pirate clippers.

But after all, there are too few centipede ships, and it is easy for the pirate clippers to infiltrate the back and enter the ranks of the bird ships.

Since Chao Wei had stayed in Changbai Mountain, the caravan was only commanded by Hu Cheng, don't look at Hu Cheng's martial arts are not strong, but he is very calm, commanding the sailors to use bows and arrows and spears to kill the pirates very fiercely.

Ruan Xiaoqi's eyes were sharp, and he quickly found that the pirate leader was pointing fingers on the ship, and immediately mobilized two lying cow cannons and four giant crossbows: "Aim at that ship for me and hit it hard." ”

"Bang bang" two cannon shots, four giant crossbows smashed over, and the pirate leader was hit by a scattershot, and instantly fell in a pool of blood.

The master-like pirate immediately ordered a retreat, and the pirate's spirit was gone, so he would only retreat. The three centipede ships followed closely behind and pursued them for seven or eight miles, because they were afraid that the pirates would be cheating, so they returned.

According to statistics, the battle was still very fierce, and the navy army wounded 12 people and killed three. The caravan was killed four and ten wounded, after all, the caravan was not as elite as the navy, although the attack was short, but the casualties were still not small.