"We can go to Fuzhou now, which is also a treaty port, and we can intercept a Qing merchant ship, seize their coal, and spread to them that we are going to continue to attack the Qing port, and after we leave, these people will report our whereabouts to the Qing government once they are rescued. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info so that you can mislead the enemy. Misu Sotaro said.

"However, Fuzhou is the base of the Qing Navy, and if we go to Fuzhou, it will be easy to run into the main fleet of the Qing State, right?" Ito said.

"It's time to have a decisive battle with them! Save us from going to them! Waste our precious coal! Shiki Kayama was dissatisfied with the unconsciously expressed fear in Ito's words, and said in a slightly reprimanding voice.

Ito Junyoshi choked on a word from Shiki Kayama, annoyed in his heart, and secretly scolded "idiot", but didn't say anything on the surface.

"I think it's very unlikely. At present, the main force of the Qing navy should still be in southern Taiwan, covering their land landing. "And their ammunition and coal supplies are all transported from Fuzhou to Taiwan by transport ship, if we can catch a coal ship of the Qing Navy there......"

"You're very good, Sansu-kun, it's decided!" Shikiki Kayama impatiently interrupted Sotaro Misu and made what he called "a decision to change history".

Seeing that Shikinori Kayama had finally made a fairly wise decision, Keinori Fukushima let out a long breath in his heart, and suddenly felt an inexplicable relief.

What he was thinking about now was to bring his warship and the officers and men under his command back to Japan as soon as possible.

Similar to Keinori Fukushima's thoughts, Junyoshi Ito and Haragoro Hida also had almost the same expressions on their faces.

But Keinori Fukushima and others didn't know what would happen next.

After determining the next plan of action, the Japanese captains returned to the ship and began to prepare for a new voyage, but they did not know that the main fleet of the Chinese Navy at this time had already assembled and headed north, searched all the way, and came to track them.

After the third wave of Japanese reinforcements was annihilated by the "Princess Heshuo," "Chaowu," and "Chengqing," the meticulous Deng Shichang first interrogated many captured officers of the Japanese Navy and Army, and learned that the formation of the Japanese Navy headed by the ironclad ship "Longxiang" had already set off, so he reported the news to Lin Yizhe when he joined the brigade. After Lin Yizhe learned the news of the dispatch of the "Longxiang" formation, he judged that the Japanese ships might invade Jicoop, Xiamen, Fuzhou, and other places, so that after all the troops of Zhou Shengchuan's army had gone ashore, Lin Yizhe left behind four gunboats, "Fusheng", "Jiansheng", "Fuxing", and "Jianxing," to protect the landing ground of the army and cooperate with the army, so he led all eight cruisers to the north.

If it weren't for the timely announcement of Shiki Kayama to return to the voyage, and according to Shiki Kayama's original plan, the two sides would have met unexpectedly soon, and it was Sotaro Misu's suggestion that made the Japanese fleet lucky to delay its destruction.

And before the Japanese fleet perished, it was destined to encounter an unexpected "surprise" outside the port of Fuzhou.

Fuzhou, Mawei Port.

On board the paddle steamer "Funing", a team of porters is transporting locked wooden boxes from the trestle onto the ship. The boxes didn't look too big, but they were so heavy that it took four strong men to lift.

It may be that a box is too heavy, and the workers who carry the box are a few slightly thin offspring, and at the moment when the box is just lifted to the deck, one of the workers is overwhelmed, and suddenly falls to the ground, and the heavy box slides off the wooden bar and presses against the worker's legs, and the worker immediately screams loudly.

Seeing this scene, the foreman and two workers immediately rushed over, and six people worked together to remove the box from the worker's leg and shin, although the time before and after was only a few minutes, but the worker's leg had been broken, and he couldn't stop crying out in pain, which attracted the attention of many people around him, and also provoked the foreman to curse.

On the flybridge of the ship, several people wearing long robes and quite generous were watching the handling of these boxes intently, and when they saw that the boxes had crushed the workers, one of the leaders couldn't help frowning.

This person is Hu Xueyan's personal companion Lu Qingyun.

"How!"

Seeing this, Chen Yucheng, the big shopkeeper of the Fuzhou branch of Fukang Qianzhuang, couldn't help but be very annoyed.

Lu Qingyun's eyes did not look at the injured, but fixed on the box.

Despite the accident, the box was not damaged in any way. Seeing that the box was in good condition, Lu Qingyun was relieved.

"I'll go down and have a look." Chen Yucheng noticed the dissatisfaction on Lu Qingyun's face, beads of sweat oozed from his forehead, and hurriedly said to Lu Qingyun.

"If you are injured, give him more money, and ask him to recuperate from his injuries, and don't tell outsiders how he hurt his leg." Lu Qingyun commanded.

"Yes! Be! Chen Yucheng nodded again and again, arched his hand to Lu Qingyun again, and quickly stepped off the flying bridge and came to the injured man. At this time, because someone was injured, the workers stopped one after another, and the handling work was hindered.

Lu Qingyun saw that the shopkeeper Chen took a few silver dollars from his sleeve, handed them to the injured worker, soothed him with kind words, and gave him a few more words, the injured worker nodded again and again, and then got off the boat with the support of the two workers.

After the shopkeeper Chen finished processing, he quickly returned to the flybridge with a hem of his clothes.

By this time, the last boxes had been lifted onto the ship and transported into the cabin. After seeing the workers get off the boat, Chen Yucheng said to Lu Qingyun: "Master Lu, do you want to go down and take a look?" ”

Lu Qingyun nodded, got off the flybridge with Chen Da, and entered a coal tank of the ship.

Looking at the wooden boxes stacked in the corner of the coal tank, the shopkeeper Chen Da and Liu Chunhe, the second shopkeeper of the Fuzhou branch of Fukang Qianzhuang, counted them in front of Lu Qingyun, and only after determining that there were a lot of wooden boxes, did they put their minds at ease.

"It's all here. Lu Ye. After the inspection, the shopkeeper Chen said.

"Hmm." Lu Qingyun said quietly, "It's hard work for Chen Da and Liu Er." ”

Chen Yucheng and Liu Chunhe didn't even dare to say that they didn't dare, "The relevant details are all in this letter, and I also ask Lu Ye to transfer it to the owner for checking." Chen Yucheng said, took out an envelope, and handed it to Lu Qingyun.

"Okay." Lu Qingyun took the letter and put it away, "The two of you don't have anything to explain to the owner?" ”

Chen and Liu glanced at each other and shook their heads.

Some people brought in lumps of coal from outside, and covered the boxes tightly, like coal heaps.

"The old man is old and can't stand the wind and waves, this time there is Lao Luye." Seeing that the cover-up work was completed and the workers all retreated, Chen Yucheng laughed with him, took out a paper seal from his sleeve, and stuffed it into Lu Qingyun's hand, "This is a little caution from the top and bottom of the number, not a tribute, Lu Ye bought a bag of tea on the road to drink!" ”

"Then thank you to Shopkeeper Chen." Lu Qingyun took the paper envelope and put it away, with a faint smile on his face, "If the shopkeeper Chen is free, you might as well go to Beijing to stay for a few more days, and the brothers will accompany a few people to have a good time." ”

"That's nature." Chen Yucheng said with a smile.

The two exchanged a few more polite words, Chen Yucheng looked at this large pile of "coal", and asked again as if he was a little uneasy, "Master Lu, dare to ask the owner what is the use of transporting so many 'spots' back this time?" ”

"The owner didn't explain, just to ask Lu to come to escort him, I can't inquire, hehe, what's the use of this, I can't talk nonsense." Lu Qingyun smiled, "However, the owner must have the owner's considerations, so we don't have to worry about it, right?" Hehe. ”

"However, this is far away, there is no need for bills of exchange, it is all spot, isn't it too dangerous......" Although Chen Yucheng hesitated, at this last moment, out of loyalty to Hu Xueyan and the duty of a businessman, he still had one more sentence.

"The owner wants a spot, not a bill of exchange, I think there is some difficulty." Of course, Lu Qingyun understood the risks involved, rolled his eyelids, and replied, "Let's do things for the owner, and we still have to bear this little risk." ”

"That's it! Is that! Chen Yucheng nodded again and again, "This time, the trumpet hired this steamer, just so that this foreign ship can go faster than the wooden ship, so that it can arrive as soon as possible, and make the owner feel at ease earlier." ”

"Shopkeeper Chen has done a good job. This steamer runs fast, and it can save half the time compared to a wooden boat, and this is the steamer that my brother took when he came. Lu Qingyun said, "I heard that the sea has also calmed down a lot in the past two years. ”

"Yes, since the shipmaster built the warship, the pirates on this sea have exterminated a lot for the sailors, although there are still pirates on the shores of some islands, but they generally don't dare to fight the idea of this steamer." Liu Chunhe also said.

Hearing Liu Chunhe mention the "shipmaster", Chen Yucheng quickly glanced at Liu Chunhe, Liu Chunhe suddenly remembered the grievances and grievances between the proprietor Hu Xueyan and the two bigwigs of the shipmaster, and knew that he was speechless, so he quickly shut up.

"Yes, these pirates are all wooden boats, where can they catch up with this steamer, hehe. Besides, this time, even if you run into pirates, you're not afraid! Lu Qingyun didn't seem to hear the clues, and as he spoke, he patted the revolver on his waist, and pointed to the retinue behind him who were carrying foreign guns, and said with a smile, "If you come, it's just time to practice guns, hehe." ”

"That's, that's." Chen Yucheng laughed twice with him.

After a few more words of gossip, Chen Yucheng raised his hand and said goodbye: "It's not early, we'll leave the boat after a while, let's leave, I wish Lu Ye a smooth journey." ”

Lu Qingyun returned the salute and sent Chen Liu and the others from the Fuzhou branch of Fukang Qianzhuang out of the cabin and off the trestle. After a short time, the "Funing" sounded its whistle and slowly sailed away from the dock.

After checking again and locking the door of the cabin where the boxes were kept, Lu Qingyun returned to his cabin. Probably a little tired, he lay down in bed, and after a while, he fell asleep.

In the dream, he dreamed again of the aunt Sister Ayu, who was in Beijing, and the time when he was tender and sweet......

It is precisely because there are these aunts and wives who can fool around with the managers below in various places, and the managers everywhere are grateful for the blind eye of Master Hu and work hard to do things, so that Master Hu's business is getting bigger and bigger, and it is becoming more and more prosperous......

"Bang!"

Just as Lu Qingyun in the dream was intoxicated by Sister Ayu's gentle township, a loud noise suddenly came and Lu Qingyun woke up from the spring dream.

"Bang!" There was another sound, Lu Qingyun heard that it was the sound of cannons, and he was shocked, and immediately pulled out the revolver pinned to his waist.

He said in his heart, couldn't it be that he had encountered a pirate? With a thought in his mind, he immediately rushed to the porthole and looked out.

And when he saw what appeared in front of him, Lu Qingyun's eyes suddenly widened, and the revolver in his hand fell to the ground all of a sudden.

Outside the porthole, the figure of a warship is clearly visible.

This is a tall and large three-masted Western-style giant ship, the bow of the ship is as sharp as a knife, plunging vertically into the seawater, splitting the layers of waves, and stretching a huge mast forward, which looks murderous, and what frightens him the most is the black hole in the muzzle of the huge cannon on the hull.

He habitually raised his head and looked at the top of the mainmast, hoping to see a pirate's flag there, but what he didn't expect was a strange flag flying there, which looked like a sun's rays!

"Sun Flag! This is...... The Japanese Troop Wheel? After Lu Qingyun made sure that the giant ship in front of him was not a pirate ship, he quickly picked up the pistol that fell on the floor, re-pinned it, and then walked out of the cabin quickly and came to the deck flybridge.

At this time, the captain of the "Funing", the Englishman Cullen, was also on the flybridge, and he scolded the Japanese warship that appeared.

"What a barbarian!" He said loudly in Chinese, "They are violating international law!" I must report to my country's consul when I go back! ”

"Mr. Karen, Japanese...... What's to be done? Lu Qingyun asked.

"They ordered us to stop the ship or they would fire on us!" Karen said angrily, pointing to a string of signal flags on the mast of a Japanese warship.

"What's going on? Is there a war between China and Japan? But why didn't I get such news? Cullen muttered to himself again.

Lu Qingyun looked at the Japanese warship again, and he realized that behind this Japanese warship, there were three warships arranged in order.

"What are they going to do now?" Seeing the small boats lowered on the Japanese warships and loaded with loaded soldiers, Lu Qingyun's uneasiness in his heart became heavier and heavier.

"I think we should check if we have weapons and ammunition on board!" Cullen replied.

Thinking of the revolver that Master Hu gave him and the foreign guns he brought with him, Lu Qingyun's heart sank.

"You'd better go back to the cabin with your people and don't walk around, my friend." Karen noticed the change in Lu Qingyun's face, and kindly suggested, "Maybe they will leave after the inspection." ”

Lu Qingyun nodded, hurriedly got off the flybridge, and as soon as he entered the cabin, he saw all the servants with panicked faces.

"Master Lu, I heard that the Japanese are going to board our ship?" Someone asked.

"Master Lu, the Japanese won't take us all to Dongyang Island...... right," a very imaginative servant said with a crying voice.

"Your mother's funeral! Unpromising! Lei Wang, the head of the guard who was born in the dart bureau, waved the foreign gun in his hand and shouted, "The Japanese dare to mess around, Lao Tzu shot them!" ”

"Wait! You can't use guns with the Japanese! It was easy for Lu Qingyun to calm himself down, "Lei Tou'er, inform everyone, go back to the cabin and hide all the guns quickly!" Don't let the Japanese find it! ”

"Why is that?" Lei Wang was stunned.

"I heard the captain say that it may be that the imperial court and the Japanese are at war, and the Japanese warships will intercept us, and they are mainly on the ship to search for arms! If you don't see the arms, you'll let us go! Lu Qingyun said, "Hurry up and tell everyone to hide all the guns!" ”

"But there are no guns, once the Japanese hit our idea of that batch of goods...... Lei Wang didn't know what was in the box, he only knew that it must be valuable goods, to remind Lu Qingyun.

"It's all under the coal pile! The Japanese can't find out! Lu Qingyun didn't want to explain more to Lei Wang, so he hurriedly said, "Everyone, hurry up!" Hide all the guns! ”

Lei Wang and the others began to hide the gun according to their words, and Lu Qingyun also handed over the revolver on his body to Lei Wang, asking him to help hide it, and then returned to the cabin and waited for the inspection of the Japanese.

But Lu Qingyun waited anxiously in the cabin for a long time, and he didn't see a single Japanese, only hearing strange and rough shouts and scolding from time to time outside.

Lu Qingyun was about to go out to have a look, but he heard a rush of footsteps, followed by a quick knock on the door.

"Master Lu! Oh no! The Japanese have discovered our goods! Moving to their ship! ”

"What?" As if there was a thunderbolt on a sunny day, Lu Qingyun was stunned for a moment, rushed forward and opened the door, grabbed the servant's arm, dragged him in, and hissed and roared, "How could they find out under the coal pile?" ”

"Because...... Japanese...... I'm here to grab coal! The servant said with a sad face.

Lu Qingyun let go of the servant and rushed in the direction of the coal tank like crazy, he had just come to the cloister when he was forced by two Japanese soldiers with rifles with bayonets.

Lu Qingyun pushed away the rifle and was about to rush in, but he was hit in the head by the butt of a Japanese soldier, his eyes were black, and he fell to the ground.

"Yaga!"

Lu Qingyun had a sharp pain in his body, and the boots of the two Japanese soldiers kicked him hard, and then his head hit the butt of a gun hard, and he fainted.

On the deck of the "Longxiang", Shiki Kayama looked at the thick and sturdy camphor wood boxes, and his face couldn't help but show surprise.

He came to a box, reached out and opened the lid, and couldn't help but hold his breath when he saw the contents.