The old city of Guangzhou, the prefect's yamen.

In the government system, it is the main hall, behind the hall is the prefect's house, the east is the Qing army with the governor's office, and the west is the coastal defense with the governor's office.

Lan Qin worked in the Tongzhi Ya, and the earlier inscription suggesting the construction of warships on the open sea attracted the attention of the imperial court.

Beijing apparently did not have the financial resources to build a fleet of Yi ships at the same time as a land war, and Lan Qin's inscription was shelved, but he himself was transferred to Guangdong, where the task was most arduous, after Ding Wei's recovery, as he was well versed in coastal defense. Lan Qin first served as the governor of Chaozhou coastal defense, and then as the governor of Guangzhou coastal defense.

Zhengwupinfu Tongzhi is not a big official in Guangzhou, and generally Tongzhi is the prefect's second official, and his real power and status are not high. But Haiphong Tongzhi is an exception.

Since the great invasion of the Japanese in the Jiajing year, the Haiphong Tongzhi has been in charge of the coastal defense military power as an important part of the military system of the military commander, the Tongzhi, the military governor, and the Guangzhou Haiphong Tongzhi is responsible for the coastal defense of the Pearl River Estuary, the prohibition of the sea, the verification of maritime trade, and the supervision of Macao, supervising the training of the Guangdong General Army.

The Tatars inherited the Ming Dynasty's coastal defense and the same governor, and Lan Qin's actual boss was not the prefect of Guangzhou, but the deputy envoy of Guangdong according to the inspection of the sea road, commonly known as the deputy envoy of the sea road.

In the new dynasty, the Guangzhou coastal defense Tongzhi still theoretically still had the same power as the Ming Dynasty, but because the two feudal domains and the two canton governors carved up the business of Macao, it was impossible to mix the meat of Macao, and the military power of the two cantons was controlled by the two feudal domains of Ping and Jing, and the governor could only manage the superintendent pacesetters, and the power of the coastal defense Tongzhi to supervise the army really only existed in theory.

Therefore, unlike the Ming Dynasty Tongzhi, who was stationed outside the Guangzhou Prefecture, in charge of Macao in Xiangshan, and in the water management division of Nantou Water Village, the Guangzhou Haiphong Tongzhi of the New Dynasty lost its Xiangshan station and could only be crowded into the city and co-located with the Guangzhou Prefect.

Of course, this is not a situation that Lan Qin wants to see, nor is it what the Beijing bigwig who sent him to Guangdong wants to see.

The situation at the mouth of the Pearl River was complicated, and after Lan Qin took office, he first made a low-key inspection of the key coastal defense passes along the Pearl River and Lingdingyang, and then did not make any major moves.

Until the Battle of Leizhou, the defeated Ping and Jing feudal domains, in order to replenish the losses of the army as soon as possible, called on the military and civilians to donate funds to recruit troops and build ships, and gave official positions and flood land accordingly.

Lanqin sold all his family property in Huizhou, donated 15,000 taels, built 4 boats, 12 fast crab boats, 30 sampans, recruited 800 soldiers, and 1,000 sailors. He himself was an officer with military power, and this unit was paid by the Guangzhou government in the name of Guangzhou regimental training and stationed in Humen Village.

Humen Zhai was built in the sixteenth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, before the Tiger Mountain was built, and then moved to the back of the mountain, a small city, and the status is not very important. Shang Kexi was burned by the pirate Wang Huizhi when he entered Guangzhou, and has been abandoned to this day.

Humen garrison Huang Tingqi presented the defense map of the Humen Walled City to Lan Qin, "My lord, the city is in Shiqiling, 186 zhang in Zhou, there are 2 forts in the south mountain ridge of the river, 9 cannons on the mountain forts, 6 cannons under the mountain, 7 cannons in the Humen Walled City, a total of 22 Hongyi cannons. ”

Huang Tingqi is a family member brought to Guangzhou from Huizhou by Lan Qin, and Lan Qin is very satisfied with the Humen Walled City that he presided over to build. ”

"But there is only rammed earth, not bricks."

"Just wrap a layer of logs, the brothers in the camp can't wait to wrap the bricks, and move my government office and soldiers into the city as soon as possible."

"Yes, it will be done before the rainy season."

Huang Tingqi bowed and turned to leave.

"Wait." Lan Qin stopped him, "Tomorrow is Brother Zhongxu's death day, I can't go, let's put incense on my behalf." ”

Huang Tingqi's body shook slightly, "Yes, my lord." ”

Huang Tingqi is Huang Geng's cousin, and after Huang Geng's defeat, Huang Tingqi was disarmed and returned to the field. In order to alleviate the contradictions, the Tatars issued amnesty decrees several times, and more than ten years later, his original identity is no longer sensitive, and there are many officers with similar resumes such as Huang Tingqi in the green battalion.

Huang Tingqi went out and closed the door with his hand, and Lan Qin retracted his thoughts and spread out the pen and paper. Report to Beijing that the Pingnan Domain and the Yi people had colluded privately in Macao to ransom prisoners of war and smuggle goods.

Someone in Macau reported the news to Lanchin.

In Guangdong, there were many officials like Lan Qin who were responsible for supervision, some to the emperor and some to the princes and ministers.

Beijing turned a blind eye to Guangzhou's actions, and would not deal with the two feudatories at the critical time of using troops, but this does not mean that the bigwigs in Beijing do not know about those things, nor does it mean that the imperial court will be happy about it.

Cai Yuanding, one of the protagonists of the incident, had left Macao at this time, rode the north wind, and returned to Haikou.

Capacity is precious, and even a small ship like the Shrike cannot be wasted, and the Shrike stops at Haikou to replenish supplies and load goods destined for the South Seas, mainly Qiongzhou Sisal.

Haikou was full of sailor ships returning from Chaohui, and the soldiers were busy unloading the prisoners' population supplies. The unloaded warship did not rest, and sailed to the side to nervously twist the ash and mend the sails, and recondition.

Cai Yuanding got off the boat, walked into Haikou City, and found Marshal Rong in the Yamen of the General Army.

"Zhentai."

"Brother Ji Tong has seen the outside, just call me Guangzun."

Cai Yuanding smiled, "Brother Guangzun, looking at your appearance, you have made a fortune in Chaohui, right?" ”

Rong Dashuai's eyebrows danced, "We laid down the five counties of Haifeng, Huilai, Jieyang, Chaoyang, and Chenghai, and by the way, we copied the nest of Wu Liuqi, the general soldier of Raoping, the Tartar, and Zhelin Town and Dacheng guarded thousands of households. ”

"Tsk, that's a lot."

"Brother Ji Tong, the head of state once said, that Wu Liuqi is Lord Wei's brother-in-law, do you know who Lord Wei is?"

"I don't know."

Rong Dashuai held his chin, "I haven't heard that there is a viscount surnamed Wei in Beijing." ”

"There are so many Tartars who are in the essence of Qi Nihafan, and it is normal to not recognize them all."

"Well, it doesn't matter. However, Wu Liuqi is really rich, and the amount of silver I got in Dacheng Shouyu Thousand Households is more than that of the five counties of Chaohui. ”

"Wu Liuqi slaughtered Chaozhou City and five or six counties, it's normal to be rich."

"Yes, so all the captured Raoping soldiers this time were thrown into the Shilu Mine, and the women were rationed to the soldiers."

"Guangzun has gained so much, but he doesn't rest at home? I see that your soldiers are busy preparing their ships in the harbor. ”

"There will definitely be a break, but it won't be long, and the Great Command is ready to let me go home."

Cai Yuanding raised his eyebrows, "Back to Zhejiang?" ”

"Yes, reinforcements for Zhoushan and the surname of the country." Rong Dashuai mentioned going home, he was very happy, "I don't want to go home to collect grain, I went south to get food in Hainan, and now the grain production in Hainan and Nanyang is increasing day by day, and there is spare strength to reinforce Zhoushan, I can finally go back." ”

"How many of you go to Zhejiang?"

"My more than 2,000 soldiers, the rest of Hao Shangjiu's troops went with me, Hao Yao is not from Guangdong, his troops are developing hard in Sanmen Island, I heard that I am going to Zhejiang, and I took the initiative to ask Ying to go with me. In addition, 5,000 men were transferred from the naval divisions of various departments in Guangdong, and a total of 10,000 officers and soldiers went north this time. ”

"So many people?"

"Yes, it's a good place in Zhejiang, everyone is willing to go."

Recently, the Ming Army was reorganized into the Guangdong Naval Division.

With Su Li as the first town of the Guangdong Naval Division, he succeeded Hao Yao in Sanmen Island.

Wang Huizhi is the second town of the Navy, located in Hong Kong and Lantau Island.

Chen Qice is the third town of the water division, stationed on Shangxiachuan Island.

Wu Wenwen is the fourth town of the Navy, stationed on Hailing Island.

Yang Yandi is the 5th town of the water division and is stationed on Longmen Island, Qinzhou.

In addition, the coastal defense forces have some smaller maritime forces.

Such a surplus of maritime strength relative to the Tatars, and there is no need for so many people. Each town retained 350 troops and sailors, and the rest of the officers and soldiers were either incorporated into the Qiongzhou galleys or enriched the fleet for the northern expedition.

Cai Yuanding's heart moved, "Brother Guangzun, where did you start when you arrived in Zhejiang?" ”

"I don't know now, I'll see when I get there."

"I know a little bit about the situation in Zhejiang, and the news comes from Guangzhou, which is very reliable."

"Quick, let's hear it." Rong Dashuai is very interested in all the news of his hometown.

"Do you have a map?"

"Of course, wait a minute."

Cai Yuanding lit his pipe, waited for Marshal Rong to lay out the map, and told him the news of Zhejiang that he had learned from Shen Shangda.

Zhejiang's place names are just a noun that is not very obvious in Cai Yuanding's impression.

But the situation is different with Rong Dashuai, and the data of Zhejiang's coastal geography and sea state are all in his head. With the place names reported by Cai Yuanding, Rong Dashuai naturally formed port, fortress, fort, shipping route, monsoon, and reef formation of the deployment map and route.

Rong Dashuai lay on the map, "Zheng Chenggong conquered Dinghai Artillery City (later Zhenhai), Taizhou, Haimenwei, Huangyan County, Panshiwei, Yueqing County, and he controlled the two estuaries of the Oujiang River and the Lingjiang River. ”

"Yes, but according to Zheng Fan's habit, after snatching all the things, he will get on the boat and leave, and he will not stay in one place for too long."

"That's not good, the city that I finally took away, how can I give it up easily. Zheng Fan doesn't want it, I'll take it over. ”

"What is Guangzun going to do?"

"Taizhou and Huangyan counties are deep inland, and they can't be defended, but Dinghai Artillery City, Yueqing County, Haimen, Songmen, Panshi Sanwei and Five Cities are near the sea, and we have a lot of iron cannons, and it is a waste to put them all in Hainan."

Cai Yuanding: "Thicken the city wall, and put one hundred and eighty Hongyi cannons in each city." ”

"Relying on the four islands of Dachen, Yuhuan, Dongtou, Songmen and Zhoushan."

Cai Yuan nodded fixedly, "Then the good days of the Tartars in southern Zhejiang will be over, and I will accompany you to the seaside." ”

"Ha, thank you Brother Ji Tong for the information."

"I wish Zhentai a successful opening and an early return to his hometown."

"Yes, Wenzhou Taizhou is just the beginning, I still want Ningbo!" Rong Dashuai laughed three times, refreshed, "I have a mother." ”