The sea area from Shandong to North Korea has been blocked by pirates since the end of last year.

What are pirates, the deputy chief of the navy, Zheng Yong, the commander of the Fubo Army, Bai Yanding, the boss of the Beiyang Fleet, and Fan Sihai, the general director of Fuhua Company, were all pirates back then.

But the Shandong pirates are different, when Li Xi talked about the Shandong pirates with the admirals, the word "Somalia" once came up, which made everyone scratch their heads.

That's right, the pirates in Shandong are usually fishermen, and when they meet the right prey, they become pirates, and this all depends on Nian Qianyao's "governance". He strictly controlled the inland prefectures and counties, but he pulled out the flood ponds along the coast of Shandong, and not only did the thieves flee to the coast, but the fishermen also began to do double business because they were less controlled.

Nian Qianyao didn't let it all go, he used Denglai as a base and incorporated several former Shandong water bandits as sailors, while his own elite subordinates were the largest group of pirates in Shandong. Black and white, inside and outside, he occupies them all.

Shandong pirates are not only indistinguishable from the bandits, but also have different robbing methods. In the past, the South Sea pirates won by strength, and they owned several dozens of large ships at every turn, and at the same time took care of the sea trade business, and they were merchants and bandits. Shandong pirates are like thieves, with small boats and few people, so they rely on a quick word to take advantage of the lax defense of the bitter master.

The craft of fast boats was transmitted to Shandong very early, and Shandong pirates, or fishermen, were often one boat per village, one or two hundred materials, thirty or forty strong men, with a stern oar and seven or eight big masturbations. At the time of the outbreak, it was two or three percent faster than ordinary sea ships, and coupled with the familiarity with the direction of the currents and winds, ordinary merchant ships were targeted, and it was difficult to escape.

This kind of pirate does not make a profit in the South Seas, just like the Moro pirates in Luzon and Java. Prey only needs two cannons to split their jaws. The merchant ships that come and go to the South Seas are all sea-going ships, and they are quite armed, not to mention the navy frigates cruising the sea lanes.

But in the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea, there are not many Anglo-Chinese merchant ships coming and going, all of them are local merchant ships from Korea, Japan and Shandong.

Now that the Beiyang Fleet is beginning to intervene, albeit only on occasional cruises, the era of the Shandong Pirates is about to become a thing of the past. The pirates were completely unaware of this.

Looking through the binoculars, the five fishing boats were still casting their nets leisurely, looking honest and dutiful, and if they didn't take these two Anglo-Chinese warships seriously, they knew that they thought they could get away with it.

Luo Wugui snorted coldly: "It's not that there are no real fishermen in Shandong, but there are no fishermen who go to sea with five big boats of 200 materials. ”

Then he sent a message to the rear cabin: "Master Deng, let's start!" ”

A strange slight vibration spread from the gun deck of the six-hundred-material sea carp ship, and then the stern churned violently and finely cracked, and the battleship seemed to be much faster than before, heading towards the fishing boat four or five miles away and looking through the hull gun door, the gun deck was not a gun, only a grinding disc resembling a stone mill, and two horses were slowly turning the grinding disc under the drive of whips.

Under the grinding disc, a propeller shaft runs through the deck and down to the lower cabin. Cogs? After the conversion of the vertical surface of the cross-section, a pair of vertical runners are driven to rotate rapidly. The runner has a long shaft that leads to the stern of the ship, peeking through the plank, and a copper-bladed propeller is set to stir the sea.

"Smooth hinge, no blockage and slippery ......"

"Leakage is acceptable, no more than half a liter ...... per second"

"The speed of the ship has risen from six knots to eight knots..."

Craftsmen from the Wusong Manufacturing Bureau nervously observed in the rear cabin, noting down the operation status from time to time.

This is a project of Wusong Manufacturing Bureau, propeller drive. The concept of propeller has been around for a long time, and when Whampoa Shipyard conducted early tests, it never solved the problem of water-soaked lubrication of the shaft and leakage of the hull. Later, the Wusong Manufacturing Bureau, which was mainly engaged in ship research, took over this subject. …,

Because the reliability of the propeller system is only verified in advance, there is no need to connect it to the steam engine. After all, the internal condensing steam engine has not yet been successfully developed, and there is no way for seagoing ships to use steam engines.

With this system on the ship there is also a speedometer, which is the subject of the Dongguan Machinery Bureau, with the principle of clocks, relying on the current to turn the gyroscope to measure the speed directly, although it is still affected by the current, but it is much more advanced than the original rope throwing knot.

In just five or six minutes, the battleship had approached within two miles, and another battleship in the rear was desperately rushing, still more than a mile behind.

The "fishermen" on the "fishing boat" seemed to have come to their senses and were rushing in a panic, and a cold smile flashed at the corner of Luo Wugui's mouth: "Fire!" ”

In front of the helm platform, Fan Liuxi turned a monocular fixed on the base, and there were words in his mouth: "The nearest one, the height of the person is two roundness, calculated by the height of the person five feet, five divided by two, and then multiplied by one thousand, that is······ Two thousand five hundred feet, two hundred and fifty feet. ”

Craftsmen from the Wusong Manufacturing Bureau nervously observed in the rear cabin, noting down the operation status from time to time.

This is a project of Wusong Manufacturing Bureau, propeller drive. The concept of propeller has long been there, and when the Whampoa Shipyard did early testing, it was never solved. p>

Water lubrication and hull leakage problems. Later, the Wusong Manufacturing Bureau took over this subject with ship research as its main business? p>

Because the reliability of the propeller system is only verified in advance, there is no need to connect it to the steam engine. After all, the internal condensing steam engine has not yet been successfully developed, and there is no way for seagoing ships to use steam engines.

In the two shells, seeing that the hull of the boat was tilted, Fan Liuxi turned the telescope to the "fishing boat" farthest away, and continued to report the distance in his mouth.

There are two such telescopes on board, each of which provides relatively accurate ranging for two guns, and is a military project of the Shaozhou Light Industry Company. Based on the principle of the ancient circular division method, the lens of the telescope is equipped with a circular division scale, which can be used for distance measurement. The "roundness" mentioned by Fan Liuxi is the same as the "dense position" principle used by Europeans in later generations, and this ranging method is much more accurate than the old-fashioned benchmark and human arm ranging.

Luo Wugui's "brass sound conductor" used to pass orders is a project of the Dongguan Machinery Bureau, and the four two-inch guns on board are a new generation of casing steel cannons of the Foshan Manufacturing Bureau, plus the new water depth bell and other gadgets, Luo Wugui's sea carp ship is a test platform, carrying more than 20 scientific research projects, and even including the tin iron cans of the Grain and Grass Department of the Logistics Department of the Privy Council.

Just because it is a test ship, it also brought a sea carp frigate with it when cruising, after all, this battleship called "Baxia" has no guns on the entire gun deck, and only relies on four two-inch guns, and everyone still has no bottom in their hearts.

The escort warships were still dragging behind, and the other four "fishing boats" still felt that they had an opportunity to take advantage of it, so they turned around and pounced. Perhaps in their calculations, four boats with two hundred people were more than enough to pack one warship.

It's a pity that four two-inch guns, like four sharpshooters who pierce through the Yang at a hundred paces, sink one in one round of shelling, and the hit rate has increased from half of the initial to four shots and three hits, and then to four shots and four hits. When the last fishing boat turned around and tried to escape, it was intercepted by the escorting sea carp ship, and four twelve-pound guns, four eight-pound guns, and two two-inch guns were bombarded at a distance of less than 50 zhang, and the encounter was much worse than that of the first four "fishing boats".

"We are fishermen, honest fishermen! You are killing innocents indiscriminately! ”

The captives were taken ashore, and a leader-like guy cried out in grief and indignation.

"If you're fishermen, we're pirates...... Pirates, see who robs whom. ”

Luo Wugui pouted and dismissed, this guy still had a short gun on his body, everyone under his command was wearing a knife, and there were muskets, mines, fire pots, hooks and cymbals hidden on the boat, and the whaling fishermen were not so exaggerated. ..., a naval battle ended one-sidedly, hundreds of prisoners were captured, a usable "fishing boat" was towed, and the cruising detachment turned south.

Fan Liuxi felt bored, and was still complaining: "Why don't you just rectify Nian Qianyao?" ”

Luo Wugui said: "This is the general trend, we are just grass mustard, and we can't decide anything." ”

In Dengzhou, Shandong, Nian Qianyao said to Zuo Weisheng, who was about to board the ship: "The Beiyang Fleet has begun to cruise between Shandong and North Korea, although there are few ships, it is full of deterrence, and if we do not open up the situation in North Korea as soon as possible, our plan will be in vain." ”

Zuo Weisheng arched his hand and said: "Since the marshal has scooped up the title of Minister of Korean Affairs and is a counselor, he has the righteousness of the angel of the kingdom in North Korea." As long as the Emperor Shengdao does not raise a large army into Korea, Korea will be in our pocket. ”

Nian Qianyao nodded: "The Holy Dao Emperor is still looking at the Western Regions, and Nanyang and Jiangnan are also dragging him, and North Korea is ...... Far from the Sacred Heart. ”

He smiled faintly and said, "In the world, who else can stop me from winning North Korea except the Holy Dao Emperor?" Even Emperor Qianlong didn't have that ability! Lao Zuo, I'm waiting for you to report the good news! ”

In the port of Naha in the Ryukyus, Fan Sihai got off the ship and looked at Feng Jingyao who greeted him expectantly.

"There is a mess in Annan, and a battalion of the Fubo Army in Beiyang will be transferred south. His Majesty only let the Beiyang Fleet deter Nian Qianyao and prevent him from transporting troops to North Korea, and the rest of the things cannot be counted on by the Beiyang Fleet. ”

Feng Jingyao spread his hands, and Fan Sihai's face suddenly collapsed.

"What then!? I've already submitted a letter to Jeolla Province and set things up. Without the backlash, I can't continue to do it just by relying on my relationship with the royal family! Nian Qianyao has already obtained the post of Minister of Korean Affairs, he must immediately take over North Korea, and he can secretly manipulate the situation in North Korea without transporting troops. ”

Feng Jingyao comforted: "How can you be alone? Isn't there still my defense division...... By the way, is there still a supernatural bureau? ”

Fan Sihai sighed: "Your defense department is all spies, and the Divine Power Bureau is also a spy, and the three of us combined, in the eyes of Nian Qianyao, it is just a mustard." ”

His face turned eager: "Old Feng, think about it again, talk to Your Majesty?" Not only did Nian Qianyao want to eat North Korea, but Little Japan also began to be interested in North Korea. Send a partial, general, and a few thousand soldiers, and go to root the nails first. It's good to have a bright attitude. North Korea is a subject country of China, how can there be unpredictable changes, and when the time comes, Your Majesty, and you courtiers, how will you explain to your ancestors and ancestors? ”

Feng Jingyao patted him on the shoulder: "Old Fan, just say that you are afraid that the more than 100,000 taels of silver that you invested first will be lost......"

Fan Sihai smiled bitterly: "It's not more than 100,000, it's 200,000!" North Korea's ginseng, medicinal herbs, rice, and copper, all of which are big business, and I thought I would be able to catch this first train. ”

Feng Jingyao said: "How much profit there is, how much strength can be gathered, Lao Fan, we are not grass mustard, that year, Qianyao ...... Not necessarily