Wallace got up tremblingly and expressed his opinion to Li Xin in a very emotional tone, only in Chinese with a Scottish accent, which made Mi Yan feel a little funny.

"Your Excellency the Marquis, my illness is nothing, when I was in the Atlantic, the ship drifted for more than a month, and the same high fever did not go away, and in the end it was not cured? I, Wallace, were born for the sea, and I can't die if I'm on the water, and if I go ashore, I'll probably have to see God! ”

Despite Lee's persuasion, Wallace remained stubborn, claiming that if he was to be forcibly carried ashore, he would immediately throw himself into the river.

Li Xin shook his head and smiled bitterly, he was reluctant to force this person, although Wallace and Heisenberg were both Westerners but had completely different temperaments, Heisenberg from the Holy Roman Empire was rigid and strictly disciplined, even if discipline was something he did not want to see. Wallace, on the other hand, has a more casual and free-spirited personality, and at the same time is extremely shrewd, to use an inappropriate analogy, like an immature fox, who comes and goes.

Judging from the selection criteria of the people of the time, this kind of person is half-hearted, without the courage and determination to end up from the beginning, and is the next choice. But in Li Xin's view, this is not necessarily a bad thing, only by allowing people to have the right to make their own choices, his choice is the most real and reliable. Just like the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period 2,000 years ago, in the era of great controversy, there was no regional prejudice of the nation and the country, and the scholars of insight chose trees to live in, which made a period of historical stories.

But at the same time, Li Xin is also very clear that what is the difference between the self-owned exchange of talents that he wants to pursue today, and the carving of the boat and the sword of the Chu people? Not to mention in the Ming Dynasty, with the passage of time, until hundreds of years later, when nationalism developed and took shape, this prejudice will become more and more intense, although the world is described in people's mouths as incomparably beautiful, but under this hypocrisy is a deeper and deeper, unbridgeable deep gully.

Saying that these are too far away, he is more worried about Wallace Li Xin, he only has such a person who has experience in ocean sailing, if he dies in a tomp on the ship, where can he go to find such a person? That's something you can find but can't ask for.

Since the stubborn Wallace was reluctant to get off the ship, he had no choice but to invite the best Langzhong to the ship, and at the same time, in order to physically cool him, he searched for the rich gentry in the city and bought the ice stored in the cellar.

There were not many combat ships in the Pingbo fleet, but there were many civilian ships converted into transport ships, and these ships loaded the Three Guards and then directly entered the Yangtze River waterway, and rushed to Taiping Mansion non-stop. More than a dozen large and small combat ships turned to the military port outside Shangyuanmen for simple maintenance and material replenishment, especially gunpowder and projectiles.

In the combat operations in Jiangxi, although the Pingbo fleet did not fight any tough battles, it also consumed a lot of ammunition by waving its flag and shouting at the infantry battalion and firing empty artillery, so it was very necessary to replenish it. Therefore, these combat ships are scheduled to leave early tomorrow morning, and Li Xin can calmly arrange to deal with Wallace's illness.

During the transfer of several galleon battleships, Li Xin rushed with the ship to the military port outside Shangyuanmen. Accompanied by Mi Yan and He Bin, the deputy commander-in-chief, Li Xin sighed when he said why the governor of Nanzhili couldn't see him today, "Since Sun Butang was injured in the Yangtze River in the spring, his body has not been well, and his condition has been repeated. ”

Hearing that Sun Ji was also ill, Mi Yan sighed with Li Xin, and his face couldn't help but be worried.

"Sun Butang's ...... illness?" Halfway through his words, he couldn't help but swallow, but his expression was clearly asking if Sun Butang could survive this winter. For whether the Three Guards can gain a foothold in Jiangnan, especially Nanzhili, Sun Ji's role is irreplaceable, and without him, its difficulties are unimaginable.

Li Xin shook his head, he had never been a doctor in his previous life, and he couldn't say why Sun Jiao's condition was good and bad, but he also speculated that it was very likely that some parts of the injury on the Yangtze River would not heal due to infection. In this regard, Li Xin can only resign himself to fate.

Soon, the fleet leaned one by one to the military port outside Shangyuanmen, the cabin was stuffy, Li Xin got up and came to the deck, at this time the sun has gradually set westward, and the gentle river breeze is blowing, which makes people feel so comfortable. On the wharf of the military port not far away, the people carrying supplies are busy back and forth like ants.

Mi Yan and He Bin also followed, and Li Xin turned his head to look at He Bin on his right.

"Deputy Chief He, Wallace is seriously ill and can't take care of things, and the courage on your shoulders is not light!"

He Bin immediately said that he was duty-bound, but he knew that the Marquis of Zhenyu was not just trying to say a word to force himself. Sure enough, Li Xin was silent for a long time and then slowly spoke: "You say, if the two provinces of Zhejiang and the direct government lift the sea ban and fully trade with overseas, how big will the difficulties be in front of them?" ”

Lifting the sea ban and full trade? He Bin was stunned for a moment, and he also understood Li Xin's intention to develop the navy, which was nothing more than an excuse to seize power and control the southeast coast. For Ming Dynasty officials, this can be thought of almost with their toes.

However, Li Xin's questioning just showed that what he cared about was opening up the sea for trade. The benefits of opening up the sea to trade are self-evident. The Dutch East India Company's ships required large quantities of porcelain, silk, and tea each year, but the vast Ming Empire had only three trade divisions, and these three had complex and irritating restrictions on the goods and quantities they traded.

Although there were smuggling pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, the quantity and cost of the goods were several times higher than the purchase price in the course of a complete set of transactions. In other words, if you want to open up trade along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, the most important thing is to crack down on smuggling and crack down on the root cause of smuggling.

And this source has two for the Ming Dynasty, one is Japan, and the other is Zheng Zhilong in Quanzhou. The former financed countless smuggling ships that were both popular and stolen, while the latter relied exclusively on exploiting the former to obtain money, and at the same time relied on monopolizing trade routes, becoming the largest smuggling group with official status in the Ming court.

The galleons slowly approached the shore, and the men began to hitch their gangplanks onto the side of their flagship.

He Bin grunted his dry throat, sorting out how to answer the question of the Marquis of Zhen, and carefully making various explanations. Faced with the sharp questions of the marquis, he has always been able to speak well, and he is more and more overstretched. Suddenly, He Bin felt that the deck under his feet seemed to shake violently. Before he could react, he was knocked to the ground by a huge wave of qi.

Li Xin and Mi Yan, who were standing with him, were not much better, and they both fell on the deck solidly. The entire hull of the 300-ton galleon shook violently from side to side, and the wooden side of the ship crashed into the dock in a violent shake, and the sound of wooden planks shattering was extremely harsh.

And this piercing cracking sound has long been drowned out by the loud rumbling sound. If it weren't for the fact that the galleon dropped its canvas when it entered the military port, I was afraid that in this accident, the mast would be broken, and the ship would capsize......

The moment Li Xin fell, he subconsciously thought that he had been shelled. But soon, a series of explosions told him that this was by no means an artillery bombardment.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! ”

The frightened sailors quickly relented, and they all got up from the deck and returned to their families, ready for battle. Mi Yan fell right next to Li Xin, struggling to get up, a thigh-thick horizontal log pressed against his leg. Li Xin didn't know if his leg was broken, so he stepped forward a few steps forward and laboriously moved the thick crossbar away. Mi Yan, who was free from the shackles, struggled to arch up, but his whole body quickly froze, his eyes were full of unspeakable fear, and he stared blankly at the dock of the military port.

"Oh my God! What's going on? ”

Li Xin followed Mi Yan's gaze and also turned to look at the dock, but saw that the dock, which was still busy and orderly just now, had fallen into a sea of fire at this moment, the raging fire was churning up to a height of more than ten zhang, and the billowing black smoke spread rapidly with a speed visible to the naked eye, surging into the sky, surging to a place within reach, engulfing the houses, and also engulfing the people and soldiers who fled in panic.

"Boating! Rowing! Quick, get out of the dock, get out of the dock! ”

He Bin's terrible roar echoed on the deck, and the training effect of the sailors on the ship was highlighted at this time. After receiving the order of Deputy Chief He, someone had already rushed to the bilge.

The galleons they were on had human-powered oars that could be used as backup power in the event of a broken sail. Now the air waves are gusting, and many of the crossbars are even damaged and broken, and the best way to deal with them is naturally to drive them with oars. Then leave the military port wharf with unknown shape.

After about half an hour, the galleon finally left the dock and anchored a few miles from the riverbank. It is a pity that a galleon with a displacement of 100 tons was too close to the place of the explosion, and was severely damaged under the impact, the three main masts were all broken, and the starboard side of the hull was also damaged in many places. Fortunately, there was no damage below the waterline, so there was no danger of sinking, but from a distance, the wolf was unbearable, as if it had just fought a defeated battle.

"What's going on? Hurry up and send someone to the shore area to ask! ”

Mi Yan's tone was obviously impatient and restless, which he had never seen before, as far as he had always been extremely conceited.

The boat was lowered from the galleon, the oars were rowed up and down, and the boat moved quickly towards the pier.

"Colonel Wallace, Colonel Wallace, you can't, you can't come to the deck! Your condition does not allow ......"

"Oh! O my God! Is this the devil wrath? ”