The casting of cannonballs could not be completed in a day, so Ren Siqi had to ask the old patriarch Ren Jizu to help purchase some scrap iron, and find a blacksmith to build an iron-making iron furnace for casting cannonballs in the future. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

After arranging the affairs of Renjiawan, on the second day, the "Flying Fish" set sail and sailed southeast along the coast.

According to Xue Yulai, Xiaomoshan Island, where Mao Shibai is located, is located in the southeast of Zhoushan Island and is a very small island.

The Zhoushan archipelago is composed of more than 1,000 islands, and many islands and reefs are distributed over the vast waters, of which less than 10% are inhabited by ordinary people. The imperial court's control over the island was very weak, although there were Zhongzhong and Zhongzuo Qianhu offices on the main island of Zhoushan, and there were Zhoushan generals to manage the military and political affairs of the entire Zhoushan Islands. However, the army at the end of the Ming Dynasty was already very corrupt, and the Zhoushan generals were only able to control the main island of Zhoushan, and even Daishan Island, the second largest island in Zhoushan, was entrenched by pirates, but the Zhoushan generals were unable to clear it, let alone the pirates who were as many as cattle on other small islands.

With many islands and complex water conditions, this has always been a paradise for pirates. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the remnants of Fang Guozhen's forces fled to the sea and occupied the pirates as pirates. Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and ordered the sea to be banned, and a large number of Zhoushan people went inland, leaving only a few thousand people on the main island of Zhoushan.

During the Jiajing period, pirates were rampant, and the pirates Wang Zhi, Xu Hai and others were rampant on the sea, using Zhoushan as a base, gathering tens of thousands of people in the name of the Japanese robbers, and every time they attacked the mainland, attacked the city and plundered the land, and the imperial court spent a lot of effort to pacify them.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, during the Chongzhen period, there were Jianzhou Jurchen Kou Bian outside the Ming Dynasty, and there were Shaanxi Liukou in the Central Plains, and the system of the guard post for hundreds of years had become useless, and the control of the maritime frontier was weaker under the internal and external troubles, and the pirates were rampant in various coastal areas.

In desperation, the imperial court adopted the means of appeasement, recruited the pirate Zheng Zhilong, and used Zheng Zhilong to conquer the pirates everywhere. Of course, Zheng Zhilong is based in Fujian, and its tentacles cannot reach the eastern coast of Zhejiang.

At this time, there were many pirates in the Zhoushan Islands, such as Gu Rong, who led thousands of pirates to attack Chongming Island at the beginning of this year, killed Chongming Zhixian and garrisoned, and fled before the encirclement and suppression of the Dinghai Ming army, and is currently hiding in the Zhoushan Islands. Some time ago, Lu Zonghan, a hundred households in Jinyiwei, met Ren Siqi just to inquire about Gu Rong's traces. And the Daishan pirates are another group of pirates who killed Fu Bin and snatched the "Fuchun", and they are also the targets that Ren Siqi wants to deal with.

Driving along the coast, many fishing boats appear on the sea from time to time. Seeing the huge sails of the "Flying Fish" and the strange shape of the ship (the style of the Dutch ship is very different from the Fu boat), the fishing boats have taken refuge.

In fact, on the coast, among the islands, there are many Ming military guards, at the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang once sent Xinguo Gongtang and responsible for coastal defense, and set up hundreds of guards on the southeast coast. Unfortunately, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the guards had become useless, and a large number of soldiers had fled, and even some of them had long since degenerated into ordinary farmers and fishermen.

Even when they saw the "Flying Fish" sailing over the nearby sea, many guards did not dare or could not come forward to interrogate.

The "Flying Fish" passed all the way unimpeded, but encountered some trouble when approaching the main island of Zhoushan.

The three Ming military ships spread their sails and sailed far towards the "Flying Fish".

"What should I do?" Sima Nan asked Ren Siqi nervously. Treasurer Cao Changjiang also looked at Ren Siqi, and when he gave an order, he sent someone to the cabin to take out the weapons and distribute them.

"Don't panic!" Ren Siqi smiled slightly, and did not give the order to attack, he now has a legal identity, but he doesn't want to be right with the officials and soldiers of the imperial court!

"Stop the boat, lower the sails! Waiting for inspection! Three Ming military ships approached the "Flying Fish", and in the middle of the ship, a Ming army officer stood at the bow of the ship and shouted loudly to the Flying Fish.

"Do as he says! Guys are ready for battle, too! Ren Siqi calmly ordered.

On the three masts of the "Exocet", the white sails were lowered, and the ship slowly anchored on the sea.

Three small boats were lowered from the Ming army's Fu boat, each carrying a dozen or so Ming soldiers approached the "Flying Fish", and then climbed up the gangway where the "Flying Fish" was lowered.

"Who are you, and where did this ship come from?" The Ming army officer who shouted also got on the "Flying Fish" and asked loudly with a sinking face.

"In the next Siqi, Yinxian Xiucai. This ship is my ship, but is there anything wrong? Ren Siqi came out of the crowd, walked in front of the Ming army officer, and said lightly.

Hearing that the person opposite turned out to be a Xiucai, the attitude of the Ming army officer became respectful, Xiucai was a member of the scholars, and he had the right to travel and study everywhere, and he had no right to ask about the affairs of the scholars. But he was unwilling to leave like this, the style of this ship was very different from the Daming Fu boat, and it was not the right way at first glance.

"It turned out to be for the sake of showing off talents, it's really disrespectful, dare to ask if you have a certificate for a study tour?" The Ming army officer hugged his fist as a salute, and then asked for a study tour certificate.

According to the law of the Ming Dynasty, ordinary people must be guided by the road when they go out of their hometown, indicating where they are going. Although the identity of Xiucai does not need a road guide, it also needs a study tour certificate issued by the school official. Ren Siqi came back from Hangzhou and went straight back to Renjiawan, and he didn't go to Yin County at all, where did he get the study tour certificate!

"This military master, dare to ask your job name?" Ren Siqi asked rhetorically.

"In Xia Huangli, Zhoushan Counselor's subordinate patrol general!" Huang Li, an officer of the Ming army, replied without being arrogant or humble.

"It turned out to be Mr. Huang, I am a Xiucai from Yinxian County, not far from Yinxian County, why do you need a study tour certificate?"

"But this is already the sea area of Zhoushan, and it is not under the jurisdiction of Yin County, of course you need a certificate! If you don't have a certificate, you need to follow me back to Zhoushan Island and wait for the general to deal with it! Huang Li was very stubborn and insisted on asking for a study tour certificate.

Sima Nan is an old Jianghu, and when he saw that things were not good, he came forward with a smile and stuffed a large handful of Yingyang into Huang Li's hand.

"This official, please be accommodating." Sima Nan said with a grin.

Huang Li shook the Ying Yang in his hand and threw it on the deck.

Then he said to Ren Siqi: "The crime of bribing this official is added to the first degree, I suspect that you are not really a talent, now stand still for me obediently!" Someone, search the ship for me! ”

With Huang Li's order, the more than 30 Ming officers and soldiers he brought cheered, and they were about to rush up with swords and guns!

Ren Siqi sighed and made a gesture, and fifteen musketeers rushed onto the deck under the leadership of the Dutchman Shabila, and the muzzles of the black holes were pointed at the Ming officers and soldiers. Then there were the spearmen of the stormtroopers, armed with bamboo spears, lined up behind the musketeers.

Looking at the neat queue of the opposing crew, looking at the muzzle of the black hole, Huang Li gasped. The movements that came out of the other party were neat, and the queue was so neat, he knew that the other party's combat effectiveness was not under his own people!

"Are you going to rebel?" Huang Li's face turned pale, and he asked sharply.

"I am a dignified talent, a member of the scholars, how can I rebel? But you, the general of the imperial court, brazenly attacked the scholars with the intention of robbing the ship's property, aren't you afraid of provoking the wrath of the scholars? Ren Siqi pointed at it sternly.

"I'm a sea patrolman, and it's my duty to inspect suspicious ships, so what's so scary? It's you, who keep saying that you are a showman, but you can't get a certificate, and you have so many illegal armed forces under your command, and you also collude with people, I suspect that you are not a showman at all, but a pirate! Huang Li's tone was extremely tough, and he waved his hand to order his subordinates to attack.

Although the other party has more than a dozen shotguns, but this weapon is very troublesome to load ammunition, at most one shot is fired at such a close distance, Huang Li plans to attack and kill the opponent with a round of muskets, as for the other party standing behind the musketeers The row of spearmen holding bamboo spears, Huang Li doesn't care, even the weapon is this simple bamboo spear, and the combat effectiveness will not be very strong, and this is a ship battle, and it is not suitable for using a long weapon like a spear, it can be seen that the other party does not know how to fight!

However, the deck is narrow, and his own soldiers are crowded together, and if he orders an attack, the opponent's first round of musket fire will surely cause heavy casualties!

The raised arm hung in the air, Huang Li's face changed, his heart was struggling, and when his arm was waved, it was when the attack was launched.

Ren Siqi sighed, reached out and took out the Jinyi Wei Xiaoqi waist card from his arms, this waist card was his last hole card, and he didn't want to show it if it wasn't necessary.

"Wait a minute!" Ren Siqi's words made Huang Li stop the arm that was about to be waved, and the personnel on both sides also breathed a sigh of relief.

"What, are you going to surrender?" Huang Li said sarcastically to Ren Siqi.

Ren Siqi didn't speak, and raised his hand to throw the waist card at Huang Li.

Huang Li took the waist card and looked at it carefully, and the ten words "Zhejiang Thousand Households Small Banner Ren Siqi" came into his eyelids.

"You, who are you?" Huang Li exclaimed in surprise, Jinyiwei is a special institution in Daming, he can't afford to provoke it, hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, and respectfully handed the waist card back to Ren Siqi's hand.

"I was ordered to investigate the pirate matter, and I hope Lord Huang will make it convenient!" Ren Siqi said lightly.