Half an hour later, the dust finally settled in the harbor.

As a result of this battle, the First Fleet captured two relatively intact Portuguese ships and seven Dutch warships with damaged decks and sails.

A total of nine warships were captured!

The number of warships in the First Fleet has skyrocketed to fifteen, so many warships, Su Buheng can't mention how happy he is.

The nine warships captured this time were all very easy to repair, and the two Portuguese warships, although they appeared to be relatively intact, were actually the most difficult to repair.

Because these two warships were shelled.

The Dutch warships were burned with rockets, except for three that burned directly to the hopelessly sinking to the bottom of the sea, the other seven were only burned to varying degrees of decks and sails, and it was very easy to repair.

Su Buheng also fished up a lot of Dutchmen from the sea, and after seeing that the fire on the warship could not be extinguished, the Dutch on the ship jumped into the sea one after another, like dumplings, not to mention how spectacular.

Those who were not drowned were fished up.

Not far from the ancient city, a group of Catholics had been watching the battle for a long time, and when they saw the defeat of the Dutch and Portuguese who shelled them, they cheered enthusiastically.

Su Buheng sneered, and didn't pay attention to those people for a while, these people were just bargaining chips, but in fact, the military department didn't want this group of people to rule the book.

This group of rebels has a strong religious color, and this religion is not like some low-level religion, but a religion with a high degree of brainwashing.

Once the head melon is washed, there will be a strong will and cohesion, which is not easy to deal with.

Su Buheng didn't pay attention to those people for a while, but counted the results.

A quarter of an hour later, the results of the battles on the captured warships had been reported to the flagship, and it was calculated that five hundred and sixty Portuguese and two thousand one hundred and twenty-three Dutch had been captured in the battle.

Needless to say, the Dutch were pulled directly to do hard labor.

As for the Portuguese, it is not for Su Buheng to conclude, from beginning to end, the Portuguese warship has not fired a single shot at the First Fleet, the situation is not bad, and it is barely an ally in the Americas, and the two sides have trade relations, so how to deal with these Portuguese is still up to the military department to decide.

In addition to the prisoners, there are some valuable things on the warship, which are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of taels, and Su Buheng's heart is even more comfortable.

"Bring an interpreter over and get in touch with those people to see what the combat situation is on both sides." Su Buheng only started to do the business he was doing at this time.

Su Buheng sent people ashore just to see the situation on both sides, and did not arbitrarily decide what to do and who to support.

These Catholics are just bargaining chips in their hands, they can't be extinguished, there is no need to let their power be too great, and once the goal is achieved, these chips can be discarded.

The men of the First Fleet soon landed and were immediately warmly welcomed by Shiro Masuda and a few of the advisors below, and the feeling of being shelled was not pleasant, and if these Catholics had a strong will, I am afraid that they would have collapsed long ago.

Entering the somewhat dilapidated old city, the man who went ashore with an interpreter identified himself and expressed his firm side with Shiro Masuda that he was firmly on the side of the Catholics, while strongly condemning the brutality of the Tokugawa shogunate.

This immediately made Shiro Masuda and his advisers enthusiastic, and they kept bowing to the personnel on the shore.

But when asked about the war, Shiro Masuda told the truth.

There were only 13,000 people in the city, and at the same time, there were not enough food supplies, and even fresh water was relatively scarce, while the city was besieged by 120,000 shogunate troops.

120,000 versus 13,000, this contrast in strength is too great, that is, it has not been shelled, and once it has been surrounded for a long time, it will definitely be exterminated by the Tokugawa shogunate.

Before the envoys left, Shiro Masuda then thanked the First Fleet for their assistance very respectfully.

Su Buheng was rewarded and carefully considered the situation. Jiang Lianwen, the education commissioner of the First Fleet, discussed countermeasures.

"Judging from the current situation on both sides, these Catholics will inevitably be exterminated, but once they are exterminated, the next negotiations will not be easy." Su Buheng said, "Therefore, we must give them some help, so that the Tokugawa shogunate can't get in, what do you think, Lao Jiang?" ”

"I think we should give them some help with food first, and then give them some weapons that can only be used once, such as rockets. Leave a few more armed merchant ships here, once the Tokugawa shogunate attacks, we will open artillery bombardment to ensure that the Catholics in the city cannot die and rush out, and the Tokugawa shogunate troops outside the city will not be able to rush into the city, let alone exterminate these Catholics, so that it is most beneficial for us, so that it is equivalent to catching the eggs of the Tokugawa shogunate. Jiang Lianwen put forward a specific support plan.

"Okay, that's it." Su Buheng nodded.

Soon, an armed merchant ship docked at the pier under the ancient city, and the Catholics in the city soon came down, and Masuda Shiro was overjoyed after the two sides made contact.

They complained for a while just now, but they actually received material assistance from the Celestial Empire Navy, and they received a lot of aid, with a full amount of 50,000 or 60,000 catties of food.

The eight ships of the First Fleet and the nine warships captured were loaded with plenty of food and fresh water, after all, they were all ocean-going vessels, and they all carried enough supplies to eat for several months.

Su Buheng took out most of these supplies, leaving only a small part, after all, this place is already very close to North Korea, as long as you drive for two or three days, you can reach North Korea, and you can return to Qingdao or Longkou after driving for seven or eight days, and the fleet does not need so many supplies at all.

In addition to supplies, the First Fleet also provided 3,000 rockets to the Catholics in the ancient city, as well as weapons captured from the Portuguese and Dutch.

In addition to rockets, other firearms were given to some captured muskets, and some captured black powder, and cannons were not given anything.

Weapons that can pose a threat to the Shandong army are not given.

Although the rocket hit far away and had great firepower, it was only a one-time weapon, and it was estimated that these Catholics would run out of money after a few fights with the Tokugawa shogunate.

Three thousand rockets is really not much.

At the same time, it is said that Ben is not capable of copying the rockets used by the Shandong army.

Cold weapons and arquebuses did not pose much of a threat to the Shandong army, so they were given a good idea, as long as these Catholics could withstand the attack of the Tokugawa shogunate.

The First Fleet didn't have much time to stay here to assist the Catholics in their defense, and had just captured nine warships, which they would tow back for repairs.

This naval battle can be described as an extraordinary situation, except for the first shelling, which was not followed by a few shots, and the Dutch warship surrendered after being hit by rockets in the harbor.

The Dutch might have been stubborn in the past, because the Dutch were not as arrogant as the English at sea, and they not only had the best piloting skills, but were also very good at close combat.

However, it was the Dutch who inherited the ideas of the Spaniards and were better at close combat, so they were defeated by the Shandong Navy, which had the ability to strike at long range, just like the naval battles between the Spaniards and the British, and the Spanish Armada did not gain any advantage at all in front of the British, who had the advantage of artillery range.

This law was also true in the Anglo-Dutch naval battle that broke out in the future, when the Dutch were defeated by the British, and only later did the Netherlands begin to pay attention to the development of heavy artillery and began to rectify naval discipline.

The Dutch had been beaten a few times by the Shandong Navy with fewer victories before, and now the Batavia Company knew that the Shandong Navy was not easy to mess with, and that kind of superiority was driven into the abyss.

This time, he was hit by the overwhelming rockets, and his morale fell to the bottom, and he surrendered within two hits.

After the First Fleet dropped supplies to the Catholics in the ancient city, they began to repair the sails of the captured warships, and those that could not be repaired were towed back with ropes.

…… In Shandong, Inspector Yanding, who usually undertakes police duties, began to crack down on the Wenxiang sect everywhere, and since Zhao Yan issued an order, all prefectures and counties have posted postings prohibiting the spread of religions other than Taoism and Buddhism.

Anyone who reports the incense sect will be rewarded.

As soon as the list came out, there were continuous reports from all over the country.

According to the report, Inspector Yan Ding went around arresting Wenxiang Sect elements, and within more than half a month, he actually arrested more than 500 backbone members of the Wenxiang Sect, and through interrogation of these backbone personnel, he learned that Shengtu, the leader of the Wenxiang Sect, fled from Shandong and fled towards Henan after he began to strictly investigate the Wenxiang Sect in Shandong.

However, the court had never tried this type of case on how to deal with these Wenxiang sect members, so he ran to Zhao Yan for instructions.

"Behead, all the backbone elements will be beheaded." Zhao Yan received the court's request and said murderously, "Anyone who spreads a cult will be beheaded!" Those who spread illegal religions can be re-educated through labor for one month to three years, depending on the scale of the spread. Those who surrender themselves will be given leniency. ”

Zhao Yan wants to kill chickens and make an example of monkeys.

Cults must be resolutely cracked down, and there is nothing to say. As for other illegal religions that do not belong to cults, the punishment can be more lenient.

However, it does not suppress the spread of all religions except Taoism and Buddhism.

As far as Western religions are concerned, whether it is Catholicism or Christianity, it is better, but Islam is the most extreme, which is absolutely not allowed.

The Asian religions of Hinduism and Zoroastrianism are very similar to Taoism and Buddhism, and among the Asian religions, these sects belong to the sect of cultivation.

Buddhism and Taoism are no different in practice, and as far as the practice of religion is concerned, the most essential point is meditation, which exists.

The only difference in Taoism is that it trains qi and transforms the body. After Buddhism introduced Taoist methods in the Sui and Tang dynasties, there was no difference between the two in practice.

It's just that there will be doctrinal differences in religion, which is undeniable.

Zhao Yan does not reject the traditional religions of Asia, but the religion of Westerners, whether it is Catholicism, Christianity, or Islam, is not allowed to spread. At the same time, among the religions of Asia, some radical religions are also not allowed to exist.

(To be continued)