"Master, sail!"

The lookout hand on the mast shouted loudly from above. In the vast sea, it is always lonely, but the crew is afraid to see other ships.

No one knows whether the ships encountered at sea will be friends or enemies.

The first to be found are always tall masts and sails, and the topmost sails are usually marked with them. No one wants to touch that with a black flag on it, or simply a black skull flag, which means pirates.

"It's a schooner clipper!" Wu Sangui quickly picked up the binoculars and looked in the direction indicated by the looker's hand. This pair of twin copper telescopes can see farther and more clearly than a monocular, but it is ten times more expensive.

Wu Sangui first looked for the masts of both sides from the twins.

There is only one mast, longitudinal zipline. The bow mast is very short, and the forecord has only one headsail.

It's a sloop, but it's also a clipper.

Like the Twin Gun Schooners, they were the main type of pirate privateers, and they were not as large as merchant ships, but they were more agile and lightweight.

At sea, the vast majority of pirates, their pirate ships are actually small clippers. Pirates need speed and agility, and their main mode of combat is to rely on melee combat.

Very few pirates would use galleons, let alone shelling tactics like regular navies. The pirates didn't have that capital, and the bigger the ship, the slower it was.

"What a flag!" Wu Xiang's eyesight is not as good as his son's, and when he heard that it was a fast boat, his heart tightened.

"It's not a black flag, it's a red flag!"

When the people on the boat heard that it was a red flag, they all breathed a sigh of relief. On the ships of Wu Zu's fleet, red flags were also hung. This is the flag of the Han Dynasty, and the merchant ships fly the red flag of the Han Dynasty to indicate their nationality and identity.

That clipper was fast. Towards them at high speed.

Everyone has already seen clearly whether this is a Han ship or a warship of the Han Navy.

The other side was already waving flags at them, signaling to stop the ship and drop anchor for inspection.

"A sixth-class frigate." Zu Dashou is now running at sea, and he is also very clear about the types of warships in the Han Navy. The schooner was smaller than their merchant ships. But they didn't dare to slack off in the slightest.

After all, there is a warship on the opposite side, even if it is a sixth-level frigate, there are dozens of guns on board.

"Thirty-two guns, a standard sixth-class warship, painted on the board number of the 101 frigate, the seventh detachment of the East China Sea Fleet."

Seeing only the three numbers of 101, Wu Sangui had already immediately thought of the belonging of this frigate. 101 frigate, a frigate belonging to the seventh detachment of the East China Sea Fleet, also known as the Wuxi frigate.

The fleet of the Dahan Navy has both numerical numbers. There is also an exclusive ship name. The naming rule is generally that the first, second, and third class capital ships are named after the county government, while the fourth, fifth and sixth class warships are named after the county.

Project 101, also known as the Wuxi, is a standard sixth-class frigate with thirty-two guns.

Wu Sangui ordered the anchor to lower the sails and prepare for inspection.

"Go get some silver dollar coupons." Wu Xiang confessed to his men.

Above the East China Sea, it is completely the backyard of the Han Navy, and the Bohai Bay is completely the territory of the Royal Task Force, the northern part of the Yellow Sea. The area from Shandong to Liaodong is under the jurisdiction of the North Sea Fleet. And from Jiangbei all the way to Fujian, Taiwan, Ryukyu and Japan. then to the East China Sea Fleet. Further south, there are the territories of the South China Sea and West Sea Fleets.

The route they are running now is within the jurisdiction of the East China Sea Fleet.

The East China Sea Fleet is under its own jurisdiction, with four sub-fleets stationed in the area, which govern this vast sea area. And each detachment has warships patrolling all year round. Fight piracy and smugglers.

The Wu family's ship does not have to worry about inspection, they have a serious business license, ship license and customs declaration documents, etc., which are completely legal. However, the patrol ship has the right to request inspection at any time, and all ships must cooperate, otherwise. They can sink ship-resistant ships on the spot.

The Wuxi came over quickly, and after they saw that the three ships here were honestly anchored and lowered, they first circled around the fleet, very cautiously, and then slowly approached.

They didn't put the boat directly to the side, but some distance away, lowered the dinghy and sent people over. The frigates did not anchor or lower their sails, but they opened all the gun windows, turned the ship's side sideways, and pointed a volley of guns at them.

Wu Sangui's ships did not have cannons, they were ordinary merchant ships, not armed merchant ships. There was no permission to load guns on board, but there were a number of bows and arrows, knives and guns, and a few muskets, all of which were registered and approved by the Taiwan Yamen.

The ships lowered the rope ladder, and the navy in the dinghy stepped on the ladder to come up.

Wu Sangui stood there with his father, uncle, and brothers.

"Tong Haifeng, captain of the 101st frigate of the Seventh Detachment of the East China Sea Fleet of the Han Imperial Navy, patrolled the sea area and boarded the ship for inspection. Please cooperate with the presentation of the license certificate! ”

Zuo Du Lieutenant Tong Haifeng boarded the ship with a squad of musketeers and stood still on the deck of the ship, his eyes first swept over everyone, and then reported his identity.

Wu Sangui looked at the two green wolves on the shoulders of this very young guy opposite, and also understood that the other party was indeed Captain Zuo. Captain Zuo Du of the Navy is now an eighteenth-level officer rank, which just corresponds to the eighteenth-order rank, and Captain Zuo is the seventh rank.

Being so young is a Zhengqipin, especially when he is already the captain of a sixth-level warship, which makes Wu Sangui slightly surprised.

Wu Xiang had already prepared all the license documents and presented them with both hands. Although he used to be the governor, after all, the hero didn't mention the courage of the year.

Tong Haifeng looked at the ship very cooperatively, checked it carefully, and then looked at the manifest on their ship.

"Do you want to return to the port of Keelung, Taiwan?"

"Yes, sir, I just came from Nagasaki and sold some copper for the imperial court."

As he spoke, Wu Xiang had already taken out a stack of silver dollar coupons from his sleeve, all of which were red tickets with a maximum denomination of 100 yuan. There are at least ten of them in this stack.

Tong Haifeng, who had a good attitude, immediately put away the smile on his face when he saw these red tickets, his face sank like water, and his eyes widened, "What do you mean?" ”

Wu Xiang couldn't help but be stunned when he saw this. I thought that this young lieutenant had such a big appetite, and a thousand yuan could not be satisfied. Thinking about his hard work, he only earned 20,000 yuan for three boats. This is still the current copper smuggling, under normal circumstances, there is not so much profit. Now take out a thousand yuan, and the other party is still not satisfied, it is really greedy.

His heart ached, but Wu Xiang still took out five more red tickets.

Behold. Tong Haifeng's face became even more stinky.

"Sir, we went to Japan to sell some copper, and we had to make some money up and down, in fact, it was to make some hard-earned money, please don't be too little, sir, we will pay filial piety in the future"

"Put it away!" Tong Haifeng snorted coldly.

Wu Xiang couldn't understand the true thoughts of this young officer, he was also well-informed, but he had never seen anyone who didn't want money. The other party caught up with the inspection from afar, didn't he just want to collect some benefits?

Was he wrong?

Tong Haifeng looked ugly. He glared at Wu Xiang and said, "Do you know what the sentencing standard for bribery is?" ”

Without waiting for Wu Xiang to answer, Tong Haifeng had already taken the initiative to continue, "Those who accept more than 50 silver dollars and property constitute the crime of accepting bribes. ”

"Absolutely not!"

"Hmph. Let me tell you again, and give more than fifty silver dollars and goods. The same purchase is the crime of bribery. ”

After speaking, Tong Haifeng waved his hand, "Go to the cabin to check the goods!" ”

Wu Xiang was stunned for a long time with the pile of money.

"You take out all your ID cards and register and check!" Tong Haifeng was unceremoniously.

Fifteen hundred silver dollars is indeed tempting, and it can be used as his salary for several years. But he will not miss his future for this money, and he can be promoted to Zuo Du Lieutenant in his twenties and become a seventh-rank officer. This is not uncommon in today's military. However, it is not easy to become the captain of a sixth-class warship with 32 guns.

Wu Xiang didn't quite understand what was going on, but he still cooperated and took out the identity card he was carrying.

Tong Haifeng didn't react much when he saw the name Wu Xiang, but when he saw the names Wu Sangui, Wu Sanfu, and Zu Dashou, he was already very shocked.

He looked at the men carefully. I slowly determined my thoughts in my heart, and these people were really those people. Wu Xiang once served as the governor, Wu Sangui also served as the commander, and Zu Dashou was not only the chief military officer, but also the commander of the army of the military department.

These three guys, each of them once got the rank of general, and now, they are five tiger generals.

However, after the momentary shock, his disdain for these three people immediately rose in his heart. could have become a high-level military officer of the new dynasty, but he couldn't see the situation clearly, if he hadn't defected in Yanbei later and helped the court break the Qing army, I'm afraid that now he would not even be a maritime merchant.

The soldier who went down to inspect the cargo came back and reported that the cargo was consistent with the manifest and that there was nothing contraband.

Tong Haifeng nodded, and then returned a few identity cards to Wu Xiang.

"I know who you were in the past, but the past is the past, and the present is the present. Since Your Majesty is merciful, you should also be grateful. In the future, be an honest person, do business seriously, abide by the law, and pay taxes truthfully. ”

"I read you for the first time, and if you tried to bribe just now, forget it, give a verbal warning, and there will be no next time. Okay, sign this checklist and put your fingerprint on it. ”

Wu Sangui looked at a small seven-rank lieutenant, and actually reprimanded his father and son so mercilessly, his face was swollen and red. The scar on his nose felt unbearable.

He clenched his hands into fists, eager to smash the young lieutenant to the ground with a single punch. But seeing the father and son smiling with each other, the uncle couldn't bear it, and he could only secretly suppress this anger in his heart.

After signing the first handprint, the father and son pressed the handprint, and sent them away with a smile.

"Okay, you should also return to Keelung as soon as possible, recently the Japanese Satsuma Domain has invaded and occupied the Ryukyus, and there are Japanese haunts on the sea from time to time, so be careful yourself. Once you encounter the police, remember not to entangle with them and return to Hong Kong as soon as possible. If you can't get rid of it, send a signal, there is a patrol ship at sea, and they will come to the rescue when they see it. After speaking, Tong Haifeng closed the team and took his men to get off the boat along the rope ladder.

They got off the boat and rowed back to the warship the same way, and after a while, the warship turned around, cut the waves and went away, and gradually disappeared.

Wu Xiang had already put away the silver dollar coupons, he looked at the direction of the warship, and sighed in his heart, "I didn't expect that there is such a young captain in the navy, it's not simple, over time, this person will become an atmosphere!" ”

Wu Sangui turned a deaf ear to his father's words, his hands were still clenched into fists, and even his nails were bleeding from his palms.

All he had in his heart was the anger of being bullied by a little lieutenant! (To be continued.) )