Chapter 14: Opportunity (I)

At that time, the Celestial Sect was in the second period of expansion, not only in West Asia and Northwest Asia, but also through long-term penetration into the ruling class of the Kipchak Khanate and the Chagatai Khanate, and gained control over the entire secular state. On the Black Sea and Mediterranean coasts, it also expanded rapidly by force. In particular, after the son of Ottoman, Orhan, came to power, through bloody wars, he would successively turn the regions of Niasia, Shkoteri and Mehia into the "kingdom of heaven on earth". For the local people who refused to convert to the Heavenly Religion, they were either slaughtered or expelled from the country, and the wealth accumulated by the other party for hundreds of years was unceremoniously appropriated for themselves. For the traces of civilization left by the locals, they did not hesitate to burn it down.

In this state of fanaticism, it is simply impossible for the Pu family in Quanzhou not to be affected by it. Both the great food vendors who traveled by sea and the preachers who had returned from the "Holy Land" firmly believed that the time had come to bring the visible world under the rule of the Heavenly Sect. Killing the infidels who refuse to give in is not a crime, but a kind of glory encouraged by the one true God.

Under their encouragement, the elders and talents of the Pu family also became fanatical believers. Waiting for the scarlet eyes, ready to die for the true God. Those who were more enlightened and gentle were quickly marginalized, forced to keep silent, or simply apostated, sent to Hell by the fanatics.

Therefore, as soon as the chanting in the council hall sounded, the "minority" headed by Lin Zude, a fellow governor of Quanzhou, immediately closed their mouths cautiously. Although they are also members of the Pu family, in front of the true God, they don't talk about the love of husband and wife, and the righteousness of brothers. Once they are regarded as apostates, what awaits them is the separation of their wives and their heads in different places.

"God will bless us!" In the midst of the frenzied chanting, Grand Elder Pu Shiren stood up and announced with a solemn face. "Bless us for defeating the unbelievers, seizing their artillery, and then bringing Malaga, to the coastal lands of Hangzhou, all under the light of the true God!"

"Defeat the untrustworthy and capture their artillery! Across the Seven Seas! The elders bowed their heads and repeated loudly.

The Pu family has the largest fleet in the world, the largest warships, the most experienced ship bosses and the largest number of sailors. For the past seventy or eighty years, he has been the uncrowned king from Malaja to the East China Sea. Recently, however, his power has been challenged by a swarm of ants. What those ants relied on was a six-pound cannon from Huaiyang.

If it weren't for the fear of the power of artillery, the Pujia fleet would have rushed directly to Fuzhou Port half a month ago, and quickly crushed the Huaiyang naval division that had not yet gained a firm foothold into powder. In terms of naval warfare, they are authorities and ancestors, and those Huai thieves from the Yangtze River are nothing more than a group of small trash fish that have just come into contact with the sea. However, after the Huaiyang Naval Division occupied the port of Fuzhou and established a land battery, the Pujia fleet could no longer achieve its wish. The narrow mouth of the Min River severely limited the deployment of the Pujia fleet. And the fort set up by Zhu Tuhu on land also quickly made up for the lack of its water surface strength.

"The main force of the Huai thieves was blocked by Chen Youding in the north of Qingyuan, and its only cavalry went down to copy Chen Youding's back road under the leadership of Fu Thief Youde. According to the local scripture lecturers in Fuzhou, the minions left by the Zhu thief at this moment are only two thousand people. Therefore, as long as Yi Si Ba Xi soldiers quietly sneak to Xinghua to assemble, they will definitely be able to catch the Zhu thief by surprise! ”

"Punish the hypocrites and the disbelievers and throw them into Hell!"

"Seize their artillery and load it on our ships. Spread the glory of the true God to all places that are visible to the naked eye! ”

"Punish them, kill them, and the true God will reward us for the feat!"

"Deceiving the untrustworthy is not deception, but wisdom!"

The shouts around were like thunder, and every elder of the main battle was full of longing for the end of the treachery.

The two sides are evenly matched at sea, and no one can help anyone for the time being. But on land, the warriors of Yisba Xi will not lose to any enemy. Not only did they have scimitars made of Uzi steel, armor made of fish skin, Greek firebombs, and whirlwind cannons. There is also the faith that you can dedicate yourself to the true God at any time. They can suffer casualties as high as 40% when the two armies are engaged, and still continue to call and move forward, and die without turning their heels. And the group of untrustworthy people under the command of Zhu Thief who only had money in their eyes, how could they not fall apart when they were suddenly attacked and their advantage in weapons was gone! (Note 1) "There are three monasteries in the city of Fuzhou, and the preachers in them are all our brothers. You can mobilize the believers in the city to rise up and provide support to us! Without waiting for everyone's voices to lower, Second Elder Xia Yangou also stood up and added loudly.

"Huai'an and Changle are in the south of the Min River, as long as these two places are taken, all the heavy artillery placed by the Zhu thief on the south bank will fall into my hands!"

"There is a relaxation road from Xinghua to Huai'an, which was built in the Song Dynasty. The pavement is paved with bluestone. It can be used for the fast passage of our army's artillery trucks. If our army sets out in the afternoon of the first day, we will arrive at the city of Houguan at dawn the next day! (Note 3) "My family can withdraw the battleship from Haikou Field as a sign of sincerity." Paralyze the Zhu thief and make him lose his guard! ”

The third elder Tian Dingke, the fourth elder Pu Tianliang, the fifth elder Pu Shijie, the son-in-law of the head of the family, Na Bena, and other powerful figures stood up one after another and happily added.

There are so many favorable conditions for the Pu family, almost everyone present feels that there is really a true god guiding and caring for everyone in the dark. As long as the Zhu butcher is defeated and enough artillery is grabbed, all the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces will be under the control of the Pu family. In that way, the Pu family is the Ottoman family of the East, and it is just around the corner to turn the family into a country.

In the midst of a lively plan, only Lin Zude, a fellow acquaintance of Quanzhou, was lonely. I swallowed the uneasiness in my heart and listened for a moment, and saw that no one cared about me, so I quietly hid back home under the pretext of getting up to go to the toilet.

His eldest son, Lin Shiqi, saw his father's ugly face, poured a pot of hot tea, stepped forward with his own hands, and asked in a low voice, "Grandpa, what's wrong with you today?" Are those people angry with you again? ”

"Alas, Hughty! If those people are angry with Lao Tzu, just endure it. Who told your great-grandfather Chun Weng to be greedy for wealth back then! Lin Zude took the teapot from his son's hand, took a few sips from mouth to mouth, and responded with a sigh. They, they want to be treacherous and go to attack Fuzhou! They, they don't understand at all, how strong the Huai'an army is! ”

His grandfather Lin Chunzi was originally the Yongchun County Cheng of the Great Song Dynasty, but when he saw that the situation was not good, he accompanied Pu Shougeng to surrender to Meng Yuan. Later, Zhang Shijie raised troops to avenge the slain brothers, and the Lin family also desperately defended Quanzhou for Meng Yuan. Later, Kublai Khan appreciated the Lin family's interest and specially gave Lin Chunzi the official position of Daru Huachi in Yongchun County, which was hereditary.

Since then, the Lin family has completely become a vassal of the Pu family, intermarrying each other from generation to generation, with both loss and prosperity. However, seeing that the Pu family was going to break the contract to attack Fuzhou, Lin Zude hesitated. As the only person in the entire Pu family's sphere of influence who had ever observed Zhu Tuhu and the Huai'an army up close, it was hard for him to believe that the Pu family could have the last laugh. Even if it is a temporary profit, as long as Zhu Tuhu himself cannot be killed on the spot, it will not take half a year for the Pu family in Quanzhou to be completely ploughed and swept away by the angry Huai'an soldiers.

However, he could not tell these big truths. The frenzied atmosphere of the council chamber, any sobriety is seen as a betrayal of the true God. Therefore, he could only watch the Pu family run towards a desperate road, and then accompany the other party to pieces.

Thinking of the tragic end that the Pu family's forces were about to face, and then looking at his young and filial son, he couldn't help but sigh in a low voice. He put down the teapot and commanded, "I remember that there are more than a dozen cargo ships in our name!" You can go to sea with the fleet tomorrow. Regardless of whether the goods are full or not, go directly to Malaja and wait until this time next year to decide whether to come back or not. Their Pu family is crazy, but our Lin family can't all accompany them to find death! ”

"So serious?" He had already guessed that his father and the other elders of the Pu family had a dispute, but he didn't expect that it was a matter of life and death, Lin Shiqi was stunned, and blurted out the words of questioning. "The Pu family has no chance of winning at all? Thousands of warships, even if they collide, they will also crash and scrap the Huaiyang Naval Division! ”

"What's the use of that, within half a year, Zhu Butcher will be able to create another water division! And what about the Pu family, how many teenagers do you have to be able to rebuild thousands of warships? Lin Zude glanced at his son lovingly, and continued to sigh. Alas, morality lies in the other, and the general trend is also in its hands. Pu family, the mantis arm is a car! ”

"Morality?" Lin Shiqi heard this new word for the first time, and his eyes widened.

Since ancient times, the two armies have been fighting with each other. And the preachers of the Heavenly Sect regard deception of the unbelievers as an act of wisdom worthy of encouragement, and do not condemn them at all. So although he read a lot of Han classics, he really didn't agree with the word "morality" in his heart.

Morality is something you can't see, you can't touch, and you can't sell it for money, except for leaving a bunch of jokes, there's a fart?!

"You're too young to understand!" Seeing his son's unconvinced appearance, Lin Zude couldn't help but whisper, "Let's take an analogy, if our two of us reach the end of the road, we can survive if we surrender, are you willing to surrender to your aunt, or are you willing to surrender to Zhu Butcher?!" ”

"This" Lin Shiqi was slightly stunned, and then a wry smile swelled all over his face.

His aunt-in-law, Na Bena, is greedy for money and black-hearted, if the Lin family really commits it in his hands, I am afraid that in order to plot the property of the Lin family, he will also kill everyone. And Zhu Butcher has always had the name of "pedantic". He had never lost faith in anyone, nor had he ever heard of him ever murdering for money.

"Ahh Lin Zuzong stopped talking, grabbed the teapot, and swallowed the siphon like drinking!

Note 1: Greek firebombs, a weapon of war in ancient Europe. It is made of crude oil, quicklime, sulfur, phosphorus and saltpeter mixed in a certain proportion and packed in a clay jar. When it is ignited when encountered, it can be thrown with a small trebuchet to cause deflagration.

Note 2: Cyclone cannon, small torsion trebuchet. A well-made person can throw a two-pound projectile four hundred meters away. It can be moved on the back of a camel or horse, and with the tacit cooperation of two or three trained operators, it has been proven that it can be fired two or three times per minute.

Note 3: Xinghua County in the Yuan Dynasty was located in the northern part of what is now Putian City. Huai'an is located on the south bank of the Minjiang River. The distance between the two places is less than 80 miles.