"Yan Dashuai, I have admired my name for a long time, and I took the liberty to make an appointment, which is really a bit disrespectful, please forgive me."

Although he had heard that Wang Fulin was very young, Yan Jifang couldn't help but secretly marvel when they actually met.

A hereditary military attache like him, at first glance, will be much higher than a jinshi like Wang Fulin who started from the field, after all, he was a hereditary commander from the beginning, a military attache of the fourth grade. However, if it weren't for the fact that both grandfathers and fathers in the family had made war exploits and saved some family business, it would be difficult for people to afford the expenses just by going to Beijing to inherit the hereditary position and take care of the upper and lower levels. Moreover, a high start does not mean that the promotion is fast, if it weren't for the ravages of the Japanese invaders, his military strategy and martial arts were also outstanding, and he followed Qi Jiguang to fight and make contributions, how could he be today?

But as long as most civil officials rely on their so-called political achievements, they can survive one term of one term, and if they are lucky, they will become Shangshu Pavilion elders, even if they become generals at the top, and even knighted for military merits, they still have to avoid them when they meet them on the road, and they still have to ask grandpa to sue grandma if they have something! What's more, Wang Fulin's age advantage is there, and he is only in his early fifties after thirty years, as long as there is a backer in the court, the future is limitless!

And now just looking at Wang Fulin's two backers in the court, he is already about to show the corresponding goodwill - because he is the deputy chief soldier, and Wang Fulin's uncle Wang Daokun is the squire of the military department, and he also has a good relationship with Tan Lun, the secretary of the military department! This is not Zhang Juzheng, after all, rumors are sometimes exaggerated.

Therefore, after the first few words of greetings close to each other, Yan Jifang said enthusiastically according to the plan he had when he thought about it last night: "Since Wang Xun is so secretive, I think it is important to come. As long as it's within my means. I'll do my best to help. ”

For such a seemingly very bold answer. Wang Fulin knew. This is already the official position of Wang Daokun's military department, and Qi Liang came forward to contact, which caused two major bonus effects. But if he thinks that Yan Jifang will really help unconditionally as soon as he listens to him, he is wrong. Therefore, after immediately thanking him, he began to look up carefully.

"Yan Dashuai should know that at this moment, Ling Zhitai, the governor of Liangguang, has mobilized several troops and horses. Entered the Lopang Mountains. This time, the general troops of Guangdong and Guangxi went into battle in person, and the soldiers and horses of the two provinces were mobilized, but at this juncture, there was news in Chaozhou Mansion that there were suspected Lin Dao cadres haunting, and Lin Afeng also returned from Luzon with many ships and manpower. ”

As the deputy commander-in-chief of Zhangchao, who defended Nanao Island and faced eastern Guangdong and southern Fujian, Yan Jifang could not know how far the battle of Luopanshan had progressed. But for those information about the pirates, the whole of Guangdong and even Fujian. The information he has in his hands is at least in the top three. Sensing that Wang Fulin was actually coming for pirates, his face changed slightly, and then he smiled dryly: "Wang Xun is right, these pirates come and go like the wind, harassing the coast, but to say that they are taking advantage of the opportunity to make trouble when Ling Zhitai is distracted, it is not necessarily. From the last years of Jiajing to the present, these pirates have been scared! ”

Wang Fulin did not doubt what Yan Jifang said at this time, from the last years of Jiajing to the turn of Longwan, it can be said that the entire Ming Dynasty gradually recovered, and even entered a rare period of rise, and because of the emergence of several famous generals in the military, it maintained a strong deterrent to Mongolia, Jurchen, Japanese and pirates. Otherwise, how could there be Qiu Sihai's people who secretly wanted to get on the line with Zhou Congwen, the deputy envoy of the sea channel, with gifts, and then strive to change to glory and wealth after surrendering?

Therefore, he nodded in agreement, but said in his mouth: "What Yan Dashuai said is not bad, it is precisely because Qi Dashuai and Yu Dashuai and others swept the coast back then, and generals like Yan Dashuai are proficient in using troops and diligent in garrison, that there is a situation where pirates are frightened today." However, because the imperial court repeatedly refused to appease them, these pirates are now dead at sea, broken into pieces, like small fish and shrimp, sneaking through the fishing nets with too big holes in the hands of fishermen, and they are even more unguardable than before. ”

Is this to be appeased?

Yan Jifang had such an idea, and just as he wanted to answer the conversation, Wang Fulin took the initiative to say: "When I was in Guangzhou before, I captured a few pirate henchmen who wanted to bribe the government with a lot of money to seek appeasement. However, such slippery people have ravaged the coastal areas for many years, killing and injuring officers and soldiers, harming civilians, and repeatedly surrendering and rebelling in the past, which is really untrustworthy! ”

Does this mean that these pirates cannot be trusted, and cannot be appeased?

"But if they don't have hope, they are likely to break the jar, and a single counterattack can cause a serious setback in a weak defence. After all, with the great exploits of Qi Dashuai and Yu Dashuai back then, there were also times when these thieves stumbled and let these thieves succeed, let alone now. ”

Is this a soothing, or can't it be appeased?

Yan Jifang has dealt with civil officials a lot of times, but an official like Wang Fulin, who has just joined the government at a young age, likes to take a turn for a while, and he can't help but have a headache. But this is not over, the next few words Wang Fulin said made him tense his nerves all of a sudden.

"Moreover, Nanao Island has always been a favorite place for pirates and pirates, and it is also a holy place for those private traders. As far as I know, there are dozens of large and small harbors on the island that are suitable for boats. On the whole island, except for the town where the general military palace is located, there are few officers and soldiers stationed in many places, and it is said that only a few Siamese ships docked here not long ago. ”

How did Wang Fulin know? The two Siamese ships came in the evening, and they sailed away as soon as they had traded at night!

Seeing that Yan Jifang's originally smiling face suddenly became gloomy, Wang Fulin of course knew what the other party was guessing, and immediately smiled and said: "In the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, I have never heard of such a strict maritime ban in this dynasty, at that time, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Ningbo and other places were all famous in the world. The so-called trade in Zhangzhou Yuegang is just a method of prohibition in the middle of the passage. Not beat around the bush. I disagree. It is better to be blocked, but it is not possible to open only one mouthful. Moreover, Nanao Island is isolated overseas, and the military generals are really hard. ”

In this way, Wang Fulin may have known that he indulged Siamese ships to trade on Nanao Island to make up for the shortage of military salaries and grain and grass, so he was not prepared to hold on to this?

Yan Jifang only felt that today's mood was up and down, and he was shocked. At this moment, he understood that Wang Fulin should not be trying to expose the handle, he was still a little unbearable, and immediately said half-truthfully: "The virtuous nephew is worthy of being a young hero who is a top three-class legend, and I can't keep up with the rhythm of your speech at my age." If you have anything to say, I will still say it, and if it is within my ability, it will not be ambiguous. ”

"Does Yan Dashuai know Erlin's whereabouts now?"

After hesitating for a moment, Yan Jifang said, "These pirates come and go like the wind, how do I know?" But it is nothing more than Waiping, Da Gan, Xiao Gan, and even the Penghu Islands. But the biggest possibility is in Dongban! ”

The so-called big gan and small gan. It refers to the southeasternmost part of Fujian, Dagan Island and Xiaogan Island, these two islands are separated by Ximenao, that is, Xuanzhong, Nanzhao, Tongshan three guards. As for Waiping, it is one of the relatively large of the more than 20 islands around Nanao Island, in the southeast of Nanao. As for the Penghu Islands and Dongfan, not to mention, there is still a Penghu Inspection Division on the Penghu Islands, and Dongfan, which is the Taiwan Island of later generations, now there is no official government at all! The whole world is not the king's land, and in the places Yan Jifang said, it will definitely be spit on by pirates.

After Wang Fulin came to Guangdong, most of his energy was focused on maritime trade and piracy, but the original purpose of sending him to Guangdong, that is, to quell the rebellion of the Yao people, he paid little attention to it. But instead, he has a very in-depth understanding of the terrain of Guangdong and Fujian, and he knows no less about the whereabouts of pirates than Yan Jifang because he has contacted relevant people. Therefore, after Yan Jifang threw out these well-known locations, he laughed.

"But as far as I know, Lin Afeng's department is now hidden in Waiping."

How could he know!

Yan Jifang had already tried his best to think highly of Wang Fulin, but he was suspicious of what he said about capturing a few pirates who asked for appeasement, but at this moment, he finally realized that the other party was not pulling around, turning around frequently, and the capture was probably true! Otherwise, how would the other party know that the pirates were lurking in the outer peace? Because he turned a blind eye to certain smuggling activities on Nanao Island, there were pirate activities on the Waiping Islands, and of course he could not hide it, but although the small Nanao Island had built a general military office, he now had a total of two battalions under his command, plus the Fujian South Road and Guangdong East Road sailors, with a total of no more than 5,000 people.

And among these 5,000 people, the veterans and new recruits are mixed, and it is too risky to rashly raise troops to attack Waiping, and when Ling Yunyi is going all out to level Yao, is he trying to steal the limelight?

Therefore, after staring at Wang Fulin motionless for a while, Yan Jifang finally took a long breath and asked with a calm face, "What do you want?" ”

From Wang Xunpress, to the virtuous nephew, to you, this title has changed from a little polite, to cordial, and then to straightforward after tearing off all the disguises now, fully revealing Yan Jifang's mental changes in this short period of dialogue. As the initiator, Wang Fulin knew that the fire was quite sufficient, and immediately arched his hand and said: "I have already sent two groups of people to appease the pirates, and I only hope that Yan Dashuai can give a certain response when necessary." ”

Yan Jifang's eyes flashed sharply, but his voice did not change much: "Who are these two groups of people?" ”

"The son of Xinchang Lu, who was once called the hero of the world by Hu Meilin, and the son of Zheng Bolu have already gone one step earlier, and the second group is a newly recruited staff member of mine with a captured pirate. And on the boat I took to Nanao Island this time, there were still more than 40 soldiers recruited from Zhelin Town, plus a good boat, and an important person, this is the third group. ”

"Your so-called response should mean to make my South Australian military chief bluff and make the bandits on Waiping Island panic, right? Taking advantage of the disagreement among the pirates, there should be people who are proficient in weather and hydrology among your group of dead soldiers, and when the time comes, a sneak attack may be able to tear the pirates apart, right? ”

Yan Jifang finally revealed his true colors as a veteran for many years, and accurately guessed the purpose of Wang Fulin's visit. Seeing that the young Guangdong Inspector nodded without any disguise, Yan Jifang squinted his eyes, and the sleek sophistication on his face disappeared: "What if I refuse to agree?" ”

"How dare I force it? If Yan Dashuai refuses to agree, I can only try to contact them and ask them to protect themselves and come back first, that's all. Of course, Wang Fulin would not be ignorant enough to blackmail Yan Jifang, and when he spread his hands, he said very shamefully, "I just want to appease the pirates to develop Dongfan, and in the future, the South Australian General Military Government can be independent from Fujian and Guangdong, and govern Nanao, Penghu Islands, and Dongfan, lest the pirates appease them, and they still refuse to stop going ashore for the people in Guangdong and Fujian." In the future, once the East is stable, you can also take advantage of the situation to pass through the South Seas. However, this is not something that I, the Governor of the Ten Mansions, should worry about, and if I can't do it, I just can't do it, but it's a pity that Lu Gongzi and them have taken a lot of risk. ”

Of course, Yan Jifang knew Lu Guangwu's brave and mighty reputation back then, this was said to be a fierce general who killed the generals and captured the flag, but he was born in a scholarly family, and he was not the same kind of person, but many people in the Zhejiang army at that time had some friendship with Lu Guangwu - of course, it was all beaten! Of course, those who dare to challenge and call for battle are often those who don't care about winning or losing, but he has never fought, but after all, they are old acquaintances. Thinking that such a person was willing to be a pawn, thinking that Qi Liang had come all the way to act as Wang Fulin's guard, and then thinking of the meaning of Wang Fulin's words, his heart had moved unconsciously.

"What is the development of the East, through the South Seas, you first come and listen to me."

It seems that the strategy of pressing forward step by step and then retreating is the right one. Wang Fulin thought so in his heart, and his mouth was not idle, and immediately began to explain in detail. This is what he has asked Du Maode and Xu Danwang to draft, and he has studied in detail and added a lot of details, plus he has a good understanding of the current pattern of Southeast Asian countries and the current situation of Spain and Portugal, so he naturally has a lot of words. In the end, after clarifying the situation to the future plan, and then to the possible backlash, etc., he arched his hand to Yan Jifang.

"Now, if Yan Dashuai is not willing to rush into it, he can also use training as an excuse to reorganize the troops and horses, known as drills, and after the matter passes, if it doesn't work, Yan Dashuai just treats it as if he doesn't know anything, and all the responsibility is on me. If you are lucky, you can succeed......"

"If you fail, if you succeed, you will be credited with two and one and add five, doesn't that mean?" Yan Jifang glanced at Wang Fulin angrily, his already blessed body was stiff at this time, but he was stunned to have a little more power in the battlefield for a long time, "I don't have this burden yet!" But there is only one, whether it is Lu Gongzi, your staff, or your boat, you can toss as much as you want, only you are absolutely not allowed to get on the boat! ”

He can take other risks, but if the dignified Guangdong Governor is caught in the pirates, he can't afford this huge political risk! (To be continued.) )