During the war years, there was no romance in island life, and some people only had joy in the midst of suffering.

Housing used to be a thorny problem that plagued the general soldiers in Zhoushan. After several years of hard work, the islands are now free from the temporary state of living in tents, shacks and boats.

The officers and men took matters into their own hands and built stone and wooden houses, and paved the roofs with straw tiles and leaves.

The reason why Lu Jianguo, Zhang Mingzhen, and Ruan Jin seized Zhoushan is very poignant, just because Zhoushan City can accommodate the officials and families of the imperial court of the prison state. Grain can be robbed, and having a house to live in was once the most urgent problem to be solved by Lu Jianguo.

The reason why Zhou Rui and Zhou Hezhi were stranded on Wenzhou Sanpan Island was also because of the house, and there was a Dongtou Inspection Division on Sanpan Island.

Zhoushan City follows the Changzhou City of the Song Dynasty, the city wall made of granite is very strong, the circumference is more than 1200 zhang, and the city wall is 2 zhang high. Really calculated, Zhoushan City on the projectile island is now a large city that can be counted in the remnants of the Ming Dynasty.

More than 10,000 officers and soldiers under the command of King Lu had their families, and so many people poured into Zhoushan, and the city could not live in it, and the lower-level officers and soldiers still lived on ships, tents, and shacks. Several high-ranking officers did not move into the city of Zhoushan, choosing to live in tents outside the city and stay with the soldiers.

The island is very short of supplies, lack of arms, lack of wine, lack of food, lack of sails, lack of ropes, lack of medicine, lack of clothing. There is no shortage of salt and sea fish, and together there is no shortage of salted fish.

Daishan Island, like other inhabited islands, has a fishy smell of salted fish in the air.

When the Taipei merchant ships arrived in Zhoushan, the federal sailors usually carried some private goods, and the most popular among the officers and soldiers in Zhoushan was the corn wine produced in the countryside of Taipei.

The distilled grain wine is pale yellow, exuding the fragrance of corn, and it is drunk and sleeps until dawn, never going up.

It is common for sailors to spray each other when they drink too much, the Taipei soldiers laugh at the Zhoushan soldiers as salted fish, and the Zhoushan soldiers laugh at the Taipei soldiers as meat bricks. Jerky is a well-known brand of the federal maritime diet, as hard as a brick, and legend has it that soldiers have beaten Tatars to death with meat bricks.

In the Zhoushan General Soldier Alliance, the strength of each town is divided into two obvious levels.

Shen Tingyang on Daishan Island and Huang Binqing on Zhoushan Island are relatively strong.

Shen Tingyang held the main channel of Nanyang trade and had the main right to distribute bulk materials.

Huang Binqing previously mastered Zhoushan City and has the most complete supporting system of civil affairs and handicrafts in Zhoushan.

The two companies invested in Taiwan earlier and have already paid off. Every year, Taipei sends newly launched junk ships, food, medicine and other supplies.

The soldiers were very fond of medicine, and the days of myrrh were really fed up. When I first came to Zhoushan, the elderly, women, and children in my family were sick and could only stand up. In the past two years, Shen Tingyang has sent herbal medicines from Taipei, at least let everyone see the hope of treatment.

Compared to the number of people, the supplies are not sufficient, and the island is very economical. The generals of the towns can now put down their shelves and mingle with the soldiers. The lesson of blood taught the generals that loyal veterans are the best assets in their hands, and they are the foundation for surviving in troubled times.

The Ming army in Zhoushan had a higher standard of living, more stability, and more hope than other Ming troops on the southeast coast. Everyone knows why.

During the New Year's holidays, the chief gives out a little wine, which is the happiest time on the island. Shen Tingyang noticed early on that the number of wine jars shipped from Taipei every year was closely related to Zhoushan's performance that year.

Wine is an artifact to maintain the morale of the troops, and the more wine ships come, the more the heads of the Eight Banners of the Green Battalion will be cut down in Zhoushan. It's a pity that Taipei's own food is also very short and cannot afford to supply alcohol to Zhoushan.

Huang Binqing and Shen Tingyang participated in the two battles of Wu Shengzhao's uprising and the overthrow of Ningbo, and Wu Shengzhao's Zhoushan fleet encountered a hurricane at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and the whole army was annihilated. Huang Binqing's maternal uncle and younger brother were captured by the Tatars and suffered heavy losses.

In the battle of Ningbo, Huang Binqing led the army to attack, lost the battle with Zhang Jie, the Tatar Dinghai commander, and lost dozens of ships.

If it weren't for these two battles, the gap between the strength of Huang Shen Erzhen and the other general soldiers would have been even bigger.

Outside of the two major towns, the strength of the general soldiers of the Zhoushan Islands is generally similar, and the scale is four or five hundred soldiers as the core backbone, thousands of sailors, lords and family members. For example, Wang Zhiren's sea strength is stronger, and there are more ships, and the land combat strength is not as good as that of the dynasty.

The conference room of the General Army Alliance is located in Shen Tingyang's governor's office, which was originally the Daxiong Treasure Hall of Daishan Temple.

A round table with six chairs with backrests is placed indoors, Shen Tingyang is in the center and faces south, and Huang Binqing, Wang Zhiren, He Junyao, Liu Kongzhao, and Wang Chao sit in turn, and the status is not obvious.

Leng Yinghan said hello to Cao Yunlin, Xu Fuyuan, and Zhang Huangyan, who were also attending the meeting, and sat down next to them.

Zhang Huangyan doesn't need to be introduced, Cao Yunlin was originally Jing Benche's subordinate, and after defecting to Huang Binqing, he was responsible for Zhoushan's food and salary.

Xu Fuyuan once set up a cottage in Dinghai Chailou, but he could not afford to raise a few soldiers in the mountains, so he withdrew to Zhoushan, and now ventured to Zhoushan and the Tatar area to contact the resistance forces behind enemy lines.

Shen Tingyang is a respectful person, generous and upright, his subordinate troops will never fight for food, and he also has orderly foreign aid, and everyone is convinced to be the leader of the alliance.

The general soldiers are different.

Each town has smuggling channels in Jiangnan and Zhejiang, and there are many disputes over the division of fishing grounds in the archipelago.

Although there is a difference in strength, no one will be willing to do it. In the early years, when there was a meeting, it was inevitable to quarrel, and even if I reluctantly sat down, I was always unconvinced. It was not until Leng Yinghan's suggestion that it was changed to a round table, and the contradiction in the number of seats in the venue disappeared.

The meeting room was filled with smoke, Shen Tingyang coughed a few times, frowned, and said, "Please come here for discussion, not to smoke, put out the smoke." ”

The soldiers laughed a few times and extinguished their pipes.

Leng Yinghan sighed secretly in his heart, Shen Tingyang used to be a tobacco lover, and he had a serious illness the year before last, and then quit smoking under the advice of the doctor.

The arduous war life made Shen Tingyang age rapidly, and the rich Songjiang merchant was gone. Today's Zhoushan League leader has white hair, a thin body, and a deep sunken face.

"Two letters, you can read them all."

One is from Zhu Shunshui, and the other is from Shou Order.

The cultural level of the military generals present is generally not low, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are very literate, except for the first dynasty who was born in Liaozhen, the remaining few southeast generals are Confucian generals who can sing and make peace with civil officials.

Several dignitaries on the island of Zhoushan, Zhang Kentang, Zhang Huangyan, Xu Fuyuan, Huang Binqing, and Shen Tingyang, often gathered to compose poems to express their aspirations for rejuvenation.

Leng Yinghan was invited to go to the poetry meeting several times, his poetry level is average, and he has no wins or losses, but every time he goes with gifts, and there must be a boatload of cigarettes, wine, tea, chess, and piano that are the favorite things of literati.

Leng Yinghan is the most popular object at the poetry meeting, and as long as he has time, he will go whenever he is invited.

Of course, some people will say that Zhoushan sings elegantly, although it is in exile, it still has a peaceful state. I don't appreciate the ministers and the poems very much.

Leng Yinghan once sneered and sprayed back, making poetry and entertainment is better than some generals robbing girls everywhere to play.

Zhang Kentang, Shen Tingyang, Qi Biaojia, Chen Zilong, Xia Yunyi, Xu Fuyuan, Zhang Huangyan and Huang Binqing have a good relationship, and Zhu Shunshui regards Huang Binqing as one of his close confidants.

In addition to Zhang Huangyan, many of these most staunch civil servants of the Southeast Resistance Movement shared Zhang Mingzhen's dreams and dreams, and they were not used to Zhang Mingzhen's military discipline.

Zhu Shunshui was only a student, but he was a great Confucian in the world, a Confucian leader in the southeastern Ming army, and had a strong appeal among the mainland scholars.

Huang Binqing undertook to worship Zhu Shunshui as the magistrate of Changguo, asked to supervise the imperial history to manage the affairs of Tuntian, and hired the army to praise the painting. Although it is only a county, it is a real power post that controls the civil affairs of the whole island of Zhoushan. Zhu Shunshui insisted that he would not accept it, he had no interests with Huang Binqing, but he regarded Huang Binqing as a confidant second only to Wang Yi of Siming Mountain.

Zhu Shunshui once left Zhoushan once, that time on a federal merchant ship to Guangnan to ask for help. Lord Guangnan Ruan forced Zhu Shunshui to kneel, but Zhu Shunshui resolutely did not kneel.

Of course, Lord Ruan did not send troops, and out of admiration for his loyal ministers, he finally exempted Zhu Shunshui from kneeling and gave another ceremony. Zhu Shunshui took the money and went back to Zhoushan.

There is no need for the master's staff to translate, and the general soldiers circulate the letter to each other.

Zhu Shunshui's farewell letter was left to Zhang Huangyan, and Huang Binqing only had indescribable melancholy after reading it, "Cangshui Gong, Mr. Shunshui is unwilling to stay in Zhoushan after all?" ”

"Shun Shuigong insisted on leaving," Zhang Huangyan only sighed endlessly, "We are here, Nian Weng can't stay alone, what are we doing here?" When the Japanese find out, they will make fun of us. ”

Huang Binqing: "Did Mr. Shunshui tell me the reason?" ”

Zhang Huang said: "Shun Shui Gong said that there is no land to cultivate in Zhoushan, Zhang Mingzhen and Ruan Jin cannot support themselves, and fishing rudder tips are no different from robbers." The day is full of money, Zhang Mingzhen takes all the flesh and blood of the people, robs homes and houses, and plunders people and hostages to extort ransom. Mr. Shunshui decided to cross east to Fuso, and he would not come back unless Zhoushan stopped fetching food. ”

"Shen Zhitai," Huang Binqing said, "You don't persuade Zhang Mingzhen?" ”

Shen Tingyang: "I persuaded it, but it was useless." ”

Huang Binqing also used to feed the army, and after Shen Tingyang's persuasion, Huang Binqing stopped this kind of chronic suicide.

Wang Zhiren: "Can you ask His Royal Highness the Prison State to decide?" ”

Xu Fuyuan suddenly sneered, "Ning Guogong, the emperor has no freedom in Zhoushan, and Zhoushan is all up to him. ”

Lu Jianguo has a court, and the six departments and six sections of the cabinet seem to have everything, but they are actually rubber stamps. Zhang Mingzhen has the final say inside and outside the imperial court, and it is better to go to worship the concubine than to dissuade Zhang Mingzhen from Lu Jianguo.

He Junyao turned his head and asked Zhang Huangyan, "Cangshui Gong, I heard that you are serving as a supervisor for Zhang Mingzhen. Zhang Mingzhen is arbitrary, how can you supervise this army? ”

Zhang Huangyan smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. He, I don't care about everything in the Ming Zhenjun. ”

"Don't talk about Zhang Mingzhen. Zhang Mingzhen has become a habit of collecting food, there are too many soldiers and horses, and there is no way, and Zhoushan simply cannot afford to raise so many troops. ”

Shen Tingyang waved his hand to stop the topic, "It is okay for Shun Shuigong to go to Japan, the Japanese deputy general Tokugawa Mitsuki, the son of the Mito Domain, has the intention to study Japanese history and is inviting Chinese celebrities." Shunshui Gong went to establish good relations with the Tokugawa shogunate, which may be beneficial to our great cause of recovery in the future. ”

The meeting was temporarily rested, and several general soldiers walked into the courtyard to smoke.

Shen Tingyang built a stone city around Daishan Temple, which was his foundation in the Zhoushan Islands. All the munitions and food were stored in the city. Daishan Fort is not larger than Zhoushan City, with a circumference of only 280 zhang.

The granite city wall, the horse-faced pier protruding from the city wall, there are 10 red cannons and more than 30 large and small franc machines. Shen Tingyang now has 800 soldiers under him, and there are more than 6,000 people on Daishan Island.

The city of Daishan Fort is small and strong, the general soldiers are veterans, and under the guard of the Shen army, the defense capability of Daishan Fort is no worse than that of Zhoushan City.

The people attending the meeting formed a circle in two circles.

Wang Zhiren asked Xu Fuyuan: "How is Wang Yi now?" ”

"Ning Guogong. We evacuated nearly 2,000 people from Siming Mountain and have been resettled on Liuheng Island. ”

Wang Zhiren was stunned for a moment.

Shuangyu Port on Liuheng Island is a place with a story that has left a lot in Chinese history. Chinese maritime merchants and the Portuguese built Shuangyu into the largest free trade center in East Asia, with thousands of residents at its peak.

The Ming army advanced, and a Portuguese Galen hung a bloody flag and fought with the Ming army to the end, covering Wang Zhi's retreat. Zhu Kun set fire to Shuangyu Port, ignited the fuse of the Jiajing Japanese invasion, and also pushed the time of China's opening up and progress to the Longqing year. Now that the walled city has been destroyed and the foundation remains, Wang Yi will start again from Shuangyu Island.

There were hundreds of cottages in Zhejiang, except for Wang Yi, Wang Jiang, and Feng Jingdi, the owners of Dalan Cave, and the others all survived by looting and collecting grain. The Tatar appeasement order, and most of these cottages were disbanded.

Zhang Huangyan and Xu Fuyuan both set up villages in the mountainous areas of Zhejiang, and the two were unwilling to fight for food, unable to form an army or even survive, and finally had to lead the remnants to retreat to Zhoushan to rely on Huang Binqing.

Wang Yi relied on tens of thousands of people in Siming Mountain to feed more than 400 troops, which is a miracle. Xu Fuyuan has personally experienced how difficult it is.

Wang Yi claimed to have five battalions of soldiers, but the reality was very cruel, Siming Mountain lacked food, ammunition and weapons, and it was impossible to raise an army with combat effectiveness.

The regiments of the landlords in Zhejiang basically fell to the Tatars. The regimental training led the way for the green battalion soldiers, and Wang Yi was untenable in Siming Mountain. He has been in the mountains since the second year of Yongli, and every year he was defeated by the green battalion, Wang Yi either hid in the mountains, or took refuge in Zhoushan for a while, and waited for the Tatars to retreat and then return to start over.

Wang Zhiren: "It's okay to withdraw, there is a base on the sea, and the conditions for Wang Yi to return to the mountain next time are better than the previous times." ”

Xu Fuyuan shook his head and said, "Wang Yi may not be able to go back." ”

"Why?"

"Jin Li and Zhang Jie are ploughing the court and sweeping the cave this time, and the people of Siming Mountain can't afford it."

Wang Zhiren sighed slightly.

Simingshan's support for Zhoushan is mainly momentum, every time Wang Yi goes to Zhoushan, Huang Binqing will give some weapons and arms, and the effect on the battlefield is not obvious. The green battalion went into the mountains to search and suppress, but the rebels couldn't stop it, and they went back and forth several times, and the people couldn't stand it.

On the other side, Wang Chao grabbed Huang Binqing first.

Wang Chao smoked a cigarette first, and he did not say a word in the meeting just now.

Wang Chao was born in Sichuan Tusi, grew up in the battlefield of Liaodong, a pure military man, and had no interest in literati. The archipelago can only grow vegetables and sweet potatoes, and the army is raised by smuggling.

"Lao Huang, I heard that you detained a ship in Zhoushan, but there is such a thing."

"It's true, that ship is owned by Wu Chenglin, a wealthy merchant in Huizhou."

"I said, what the hell are you doing? Sea trade is our lifeblood. ”

Zhoushan cloth is expensive and sugar is cheap, Wu Chenglin used a sand boat, full of cotton cloth to go to sea for sugar, the boat was left by Huang Binqing, and only one boat was broken.

Huang Binqing said embarrassedly: "Lao Wang, you know, Zhang Jie, the chief soldier of Dinghai, the chief soldier of Jinqu, Ma Jinbao, and the chief soldier of the Wusong Water Division, Wang Liao, have accumulated warships and sailors in Dingguan, Taizhou and Songjiang respectively, and they have the intention of attacking Zhoushan by different routes. I detained Wu Chenglin's boat and gave him a blank letter of pardon, with the intention of asking him to contact the righteous master in the mountains. ”

"A blank pardon is useless. Lao Huang, don't be muddy, like you are fishing with all your might, who would dare to do business? Hurry up and return the cargo to the people. ”

"Shen Tingyang said the same as you, alas, I'll release all the people and boats when I go back."

If it weren't for Huang Binqing's initiative to give up Zhoushan Island, Wang Chaoxian would have decided to join forces with Zhang Mingzhen to solve Huang Binqing by force.

After smoking, the generals returned to the conference room to discuss the second topic.

Shen Tingyang said directly: "The Archon of Order has sent a letter, asking us to send reinforcements to Guangzhou. Let me first make a statement, the ship must be sent, and each family will tell me how many ships can be delivered? ”

Huang Binqing smiled, "I'll send out 80 ships." ”

Wang Chaoxian was surprised and said: "You only have a total of 90 sea ships, and the remaining 8 oars and 16 oars can't go far." ”

Huang Binqing smiled but did not answer.

He Junyao and Wang Zhiren listened thoughtfully.

Shen Tingyang nodded, "Mingfu, you've decided?" ”

"Yes, I have no intention of competing with Zhang Mingzhen anymore, Putuo and Zhujiajian Erdao can't support my subordinates. If I don't want to fetch food, I might as well go to Borneo. ”

Liu Kongzhao raised his eyes and looked over, "Are you all leaving?" ”

Huang Binqing: "There are four temples in Putuo, Zhujiajian Island can grow some vegetables and sweet potatoes, I have calculated, the maximum number of soldiers is 500, and the people are 2,500." I took everyone else to Borneo. ”

Wang Zhiren and He Junyao glanced at each other, "Huang Shuai, let's go with you." ”

Wang Chaoxian said angrily: "You also want to run? ”

He Junyao ignored him, "I left 250 soldiers, 1500 sailors and 15 warships." ”

Wang Zhiren sighed, "Uncle Sincerity, you have always said that Xiaochang Tushan is too small to live, and I will give you Dachang Tushan." ”

Shen Tingyang was a little surprised, "Ning Guogong, you are leaving?" ”

Wang Zhiren: "I have discussed with He Shuai, there are forts and cannons in Daqu Mountain, and I will also leave half of the soldiers, and 1,500 sailors will lead the people, and guard Daqu Mountain with He Shuai's people." More and more immigrants are coming to Zhoushan, and it is not a way to pile them all on the island. ”

With the support of Shen Tingyang, almost all of the slightly larger islands in Zhoushan were occupied, and the five towns and many small Ming troops were divided into islands. There are more and more immigrants, and the food shortage is getting bigger and bigger, and it is inevitable to transport people away.

The three towns apparently have private contact, and the decisions made are basically the same. Leaving artillery and ammunition and the basic defenders, the others sailed south to Kuching.

Shen Tingyang had already known their decision before the meeting, and he had no position to dissuade him. Shen Tingyang has Huadong as a backup base, and they only have Kuching.

Liu Kongzhao: "Three generals, I will stay in Zhoushan, and the dogs will be taken care of by a few people." ”

Liu Kongzhao will also transfer some of the people, but he will not leave himself.

"General Wang?"

He Junyao reminded Wang Chaoxian.

"I just don't have that many boats if I want to."

"Colleague, I'll help you transport some people, Kuching is our hope for the future, and the current investment will be ten times more in a few years."

The dynasty acquiesced first.

A few days later, 240 ships from Zhoushan set sail south.

Shen Tingyang sent out 100 ships, but he did not transport people.

Xu Fuyuan and Cao Yunlin resolutely left Zhoushan and followed Huang Binqing.

In Wang Zhiren's fleet, the commander of the naval guerrilla commander Rong looked back in the direction where Cixi was located.

Farewell today, I don't know when I will be able to kiss the land of my hometown again.

————

Note 1: Relying on Zhoushan and the mainland to do sugar smuggling business is my brain, and it is really in the history of flipping through the book in the past two days. Wu Chenglin, a native of Huizhou, did business with Zhoushan in 1646. Once again, it is a pity that the historical materials record too little and too little of these really important things, and Wu Chenglin only has a few short sentences. It must have been a good adventure story.

Note 2: Real estate is important. Wang Chao was a general and lived in a tent, which can be seen in the living conditions of Zhoushan.

Note 3: Zhu Shunshui crossed east to Japan in 1651, and the reason was that he couldn't stand the Ming army's grain rations and accelerated the progress.

Note 4: A little more today, tomorrow you may have to take a leave of absence, Khan. I don't drink high, I must keep changing.