When the SF Cruise approached the wharf, it was the early morning when the golden light was blooming.

Tong Haifeng, who was dressed in a blue Imperial Navy uniform, carried a backpack on his shoulder, a handbag in his hand, and a satchel on his back.

Under the big cap, with a pair of thick eyebrows and big eyes, he stood on the deck and looked at the dock, and then stood in the crowd of queues, waiting to disembark.

The SF Express is a large cruise ship, which runs from Tianjin to Hirado Island, transporting letters and goods, and also carrying passengers. This cruise ship is large, it is still an armed cruise ship, with fifty-six guns, which is equivalent to a fourth-class warship. Although it is not as good as the main battleship, it also has strong firepower.

Tong Haifeng knew that although this ship was a merchant ship, it was not an ordinary merchant ship. The ship's gunners, gun chiefs, and even a squadron of marines were not simply employees of merchant ships, but had the status of a naval reserve.

Every armed merchant ship needs to have very good qualifications to be eligible to obtain a special license to purchase artillery from the military department. Their artillery was not recruited by themselves, but by the Admiralty to recruit sailors and seamen, and after uniform training, the Admiralty assigned them to the various armed merchant ships.

Therefore, their gun commanders, marine squadron leaders, etc., are actually reserve officers.

Usually they are on the ship, they are paid on the ship, and they also obey the command of the captain. But when it comes to fighting, the operational command belongs to them.

And once it encounters the imperial conscription, then this armed merchant ship will be called up and become a warship of the navy.

The appearance of armed merchant ships was also to protect merchant ships and at the same time make up for the lack of the navy. Armed merchant ships also had to take on the task of fighting piracy and smuggling at sea, especially the Empire's naval reserves, in case of emergency.

In fact, merchant ship owners are also happy to arrange this arrangement. There is an additional fee, but it is certainly worth the money. The bigger the boat. The more goods, the farther they run, and if there is no armed escort, if there is a problem, the loss will be unbearable.

Moreover, ordinary people are not qualified to spend this money, and they must have good credit and qualifications to obtain the approval of the imperial court, equip artillery and equip gunners and marines. Otherwise, ordinary merchants who dare to assemble cannons and armed crews on merchant ships without permission are looking for death, and if they are discovered by the Imperial Navy, they will exterminate one of them.

But the average Imperial Navy officer. will not be willing to come to the armed merchant ship. Especially in the eyes of young officers from the Imperial Naval Academy like Tong Haifeng, getting on a merchant ship, even if it is a large cruise ship with 56 guns like SF, it has no future.

Tong Haifeng would rather command a sixth-tier warship by himself than be a gun commander or a marine squadron leader of an armed merchant ship, which is too unproductive.

Only those officers who did not perform well in the army, or who had been wounded and relegated to the second line, were assigned to merchant ships.

When he disembarked, the ship's gunners and marrysons were standing there waiting for him.

"Goodbye. Sir. ”

The military rank of the two is higher than that of Tong Haifeng, but they are reserve ranks, so they cannot be directly compared. In general, the reserve rank is three levels lower than the active rank. Tong Haifeng is a right lieutenant, and the two of them have the rank of military colonel, but when the two of them stood in front of Tong Haifeng, they felt that they were a little shorter.

They knew the young officer very well. It was from the Imperial Naval Academy. After graduating from there, he spent some time interning on one of the capital ships of the Royal Task Force in Tianjin. Now this time he is going to take up his post in the East China Sea Fleet, a promising young officer.

Compared to them, they can only eat and wait for death on merchant ships for the rest of their lives. That's more than 10,000 times stronger.

"Thank you both for taking care of you, goodbye." Tong Haifeng greeted the two of them with a smile, and then got off the boat.

On the dock, there were already people from the East China Sea Fleet waiting for him.

"Sergeant Major Dong Gui has seen the commander, and from now on, I will be your adjutant."

A sturdy man of about thirty walked up to him, stood up and saluted, and reported loudly.

"Hello Sergeant Major." Tong Haifeng also returned a military salute.

Dong Gui's military rank is only lower than Tong Haifeng, but he is much older, but he does not mean to despise the commander. He knew very well that he was not as good as this young man who had studied at the Imperial Naval Academy.

I am in my thirties, and I missed the best age, and now I can get a sergeant major, which is also based on qualifications. is not as young as Tong Haifeng, young, young is capital.

According to the rules of the army, the command in the army is separated from the daily routine of peacetime. Among the officers at all levels, there is a division of labor, such as the chief officer, the deputy commander, the chief of staff, the instructor envoy, the military supervisor, and so on.

However, Dong Gui is just an adjutant, not a deputy prefect.

For each newly appointed officer, the army will assign him an experienced assistant according to the rules. Low- and middle-level officers like Tong Haifeng are generally equipped with sergeant majors.

"Sir, the carriage is over here." As he spoke, Dong Gui took the initiative to take the bag in Tong Haifeng's hand.

Sitting in the carriage, Tong Haifeng looked at the scene along the way.

This is the port of Hirado, one of the Japanese concessions of the Great Han.

It used to be Japan's most prosperous foreign trade port, when the Emperor of the Han Dynasty led an army to capture Hirado, bombard Tokyo, and force Japan to sign an open trade treaty.

At that time, Japan also ceded several islands such as Hirado and Tsushima to the Ming Dynasty as concessions.

It was only two years since then, but there were already shadows of the Han Dynasty everywhere and Han people everywhere. There were both garrisons and Han merchants, as well as garrisons and merchants' families.

"It's lively here." Tong Haifeng Road.

"Well, this is the home port of the Seventh Fleet, and it is also an important port for trade between the Han Dynasty and Japan and Korea.

With the signing of the treaty that year, China not only owned Hirado and other islands as concessions, but also had garrisons and extraterritoriality within the concessions. In addition to the fact that it is still nominally Japanese territory, in fact it is completely Chinese territory, and the Han not only has the right to garrison troops here, but also has the right to civilize, judicial, and tax affairs. Except for a rent paid to the Japanese every year, the Japanese simply can't manage it.

Although there are still many Japanese people on the island, the Japanese have moved their trade establishments to Nagasaki in the south. Over the past year or so, the imperial court has relocated a large number of people, making these concession islands more and more lively.

"Sir, I'll take you to the dormitory first."

"Let's go to the headquarters first, I want to meet the fleet commander first."

Dong Gui nodded. "Okay."

The Seventh Fleet is subordinate to the East China Sea Fleet and is also the main fleet of the East China Sea Fleet. This fleet was originally stationed in Penghu, but moved to Hirado half a year ago, which shows the importance that the imperial court attached to Japan and Korea.

For the Seventh Fleet, their most important duty today was to guard the Empire's concessions in Korea and Japan, and to monitor Korea, Japan, and the Ryukyus, as well as to guard the trade routes between the Han and Japan, Korea, and the Ryukyus.

Each fleet has a home port, as well as a permanent port.

The home port of the Seventh Fleet is now the Port of Hirado, and there are many other ports stationed in Busan, Tsushima, Geoje, Tamna, and the Ryukyus.

Hence the command of the Seventh Fleet. It is also located in Hirado Port. In addition to the fleet headquarters, the port of Hirado also had a port headquarters, and the two upper commands were not separated, but were located in the same port.

As the home port of the Seventh Fleet, the port of Hirado was not only a commercial port, but also a military port.

Outside the harbor, warships are moored, and along the coast there are many forts, and a coastal defense gun is erected, threatening any enemy ship that wants to break into the harbor at any time.

The headquarters of the fleet was not in Hirado Castle. Instead, it was in a purpose-built fortress, and the port headquarters was in another fortress, and the two headquarters fortresses and Hirado Castle formed horns and watched over each other.

Tong Haifeng didn't rush to the dormitory first. Instead, he wanted to meet the commander of the fleet as soon as possible.

He was originally a member of the North Sea Fleet, and after graduating from the Imperial Naval Academy, he was assigned to the Sixth Fleet. The Sixth Fleet later broke away from the North Sea Fleet and was formed as the Royal Task Force with the Fifth Fleet.

He interned for a time on one of the First Class capital ships of the Sixth Fleet. Then he was suddenly transferred to the Seventh Fleet of the East China Sea Fleet.

Although he had already arrived in Hirado, he did not know which position he would be transferred to or which boat he would be on.

The headquarters of the Seventh Fleet was located in the east of the two port fortifications. The fortress is very gorgeously built, but the wrong fortress and cannons make this fortress extremely defensive.

Leaving his backpack and satchel in the car, before going upstairs, Tong Haifeng deliberately tidied up his clothes and polished his boots a few more points.

Standing in front of the fleet commander's office, Tong Haifeng reported loudly.

"Report, Captain Tong Haifeng of the Navy Zuo Du came to report!"

The door opened, and a right military academy in his thirties stood in front of him, looked at him twice, and then stepped aside, "Please come in." ”

In the room, a man in his thirties, also in his thirties, sat down at the large table and stood up.

Tong Haifeng knew that this was the commander of the Seventh Fleet, Chief Officer Zheng Lian, with the rank of Admiral of the Imperial Navy.

He also knew the details of this new boss, it was the Zheng clan of Fujian, the current governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Zheng Zhilong, was his brother, and his own brother Zheng Cai was now in Beijing as the commander of the military department and navy. The emperor's righteous son, Liu Chenggong, had to call him uncle.

In his early years, he defected to Zheng Zhilong with his brother Zheng Cai, and was also one of the eighteen Zhizhi of the Zheng Group that year.

Zheng Lian is now the commander-in-chief of the Seventh Fleet of the East China Sea Fleet, and the Seventh Fleet under his command is also the old foundation of the Zheng Group back then, and now it is the main fleet of the East China Sea Fleet.

Of the seventh, eighth, ninth, and fourteenth subfleets under the East China Sea Fleet, only the Seventh Fleet has 10 capital warships, and the other 456 warships are far more than the other three subfleets.

In the early years, the pirates of the Eastern Sea were now the real power figures in the Imperial Navy.

"Make two cups of oolong tea." Zheng Lian shouted to his adjutant, then turned out from behind the table with a smile and stretched out his hand to Tong Haifeng, "Just got off the boat, right?" ”

"Yes, sir."

"You can settle yourself in first, and then come back after two days of rest." Zheng Lian beckoned Tong Haifeng to sit down. He valued this young lieutenant very much, because he heard that this young man was personally commended by the emperor when he graduated from the academy.

Tong Haifeng took off his military hat, held it in his hand upright, and sat there with his waist straight.

"Take it easy, don't be so nervous." Zheng Lian said with a smile.

"Do you want to know why you were transferred from Task Force Royal to the Seventh Detachment of the East China Sea Fleet?"

Tong Haifeng really didn't know very well, and nodded.

"Actually, I asked you by name to ask the task force, and the commander of the task force has a good relationship with me." Zheng Lian said with a smile.

Tong Haifeng was even more puzzled.

"Tong Haifeng, the right lieutenant of the Imperial Navy, graduated from the first phase of the Imperial Naval Academy, and ranked first among the students in the same period. At the time of graduation, His Majesty personally commended and appreciated him. After graduating, he did an internship on a Royal Task Force 1st class battleship and performed well. Zheng Lian read these slowly, and then said, "I heard that your goal is to become a captain?" ”

"Yes, sir."

"The captain of a tier 6 warship is also willing?"

"Yes." Tong Haifeng said without hesitation. Not to mention a sixth-level warship, even if he is a gunboat captain, he is willing to do it. What's more, it is a sixth-class warship, according to the division of the Imperial Navy, the sixth-class warship is a single-slooped warship, about thirteen zhang long, and is generally used by the Imperial Navy to deliver messages and escorts.

The cost of each of these sixth-class warships is only about sixty thousand silver dollars, which is one-tenth of the cost of a first-class warship.

The standard crew of such a sixth-class warship is 200 people per ship. The minimum number of guns loaded was six, and the maximum was less than thirty-two.

But for Tong Haifeng, if he could become the captain of a sixth-level warship, it would be a dream.

"With your excellent performance, you will have a place on the main battleship, stay on the main battleship, and have more qualifications for promotion, isn't that bad?" Zheng Lian asked.

"My subordinates would prefer to be a captain."

"Hehe, every Navy soldier will have a captain's dream." Zheng Lian smiled, "Tell me, are you still holding on to this captain's dream, do you still want to be a captain?" ”

"Yes, sir."

Zheng Lian nodded, "Very good." ”

He walked back to the table, took two pieces of paper and handed them to Tong Haifeng.

The first is the promotion order, Tong Haifeng was officially promoted from the right lieutenant to the left lieutenant of the navy.

The second one is a letter of appointment, which specially appoints Tong Haifeng, the left captain of the navy, as the captain of the 101 frigate.

Looking at this letter of appointment, Tong Haifeng's face turned red all of a sudden, and his breathing became a little shorter.

The naval warships of the Great Han, of which the first, second and third class ships are called capital ships, also known as battleships. Fourth-class warships are called cruisers, fifth-class warships are called light cruisers, and sixth-class warships are called frigates.

The frigates are small and have few guns, and they will not participate in the naval array artillery battles of the main warships, but because they are light and dexterous, they are also responsible for communications, escort, patrol, vigilance, reconnaissance and even landing support.

In naval warfare, they are more responsible for intercepting those enemy boats, fireships, etc., and are responsible for the periphery. And in peacetime, they are responsible for communications and patrol tasks.

But in any case, this is also a sixth-class warship with a capacity of 200 people.

Captain, a dream has finally come true.

"What, don't want to?" Zheng Lian asked with a smile.

"Yes, subordinates are willing, very willing." Tong Haifeng replied again and again. (To be continued.) )

PS: Thank you for not showing off, thanks for the tip!