In the distance, several seagulls flew low above the sea, chirping "Ou, Ou" from time to time, and then quickly rushed to the water, picked up a small fish or shrimp, and danced happily in an instant and rushed back to the sky again; Occasionally, schools of flying fish will rush out of the water, draw beautiful arcs in the air, and then fall back into the sea again.

At this time, the wind on the sea is not strong, and it is almost level 5. Although the sea is undulating, it does not look very turbulent. The waves on the blue sea are undulating, the waves gently lap against the hull of the ship, making a rattling sound, looking into the distance, it is really the morning glow and the seagulls flying together, the sea is the same color as the sky! It makes for a beautiful picture.

Such an extremely beautiful picture did not attract Geng Jingzhong's attention at all. At this moment, his eyes were only on the two British second-class battleships that he had purchased at a great price.

Geng Da spent a lot of effort in England, using more than 10,000 taels and nearly 1,000 catties of gold to buy these two slightly older second-class battleships from the greedy British aristocratic earl. Originally, Geng Da was more covetous of that class of battleships; Since there are too few first-class battleships, it is too important to be able to buy these two second-class battleships.

Geng Jingzhong got the news of the battleship, and the next day he traveled under the stars and couldn't wait to come with soldiers to receive it. Stepping on this battleship, which can be regarded as a first-class battleship in this era, Geng Jingzhong excitedly stepped on the deck and patted the mast with his hand. Then he began to take a closer look at the second class battleship.

The ship Geng Jingzhong is now looking at is called the "Suiftishouer", which was expected to be decommissioned in four or five years, but Earl Wood-Charles made some manipulation in it, and with a stroke of his pen, the ship became a breakdown, and was immediately decommissioned and sold to Geng Da. Historically, the "Suiftishure" 2nd class battleship did not fall well, and was captured by the Dutch fleet in the second Anglo-Dutch war, that is, in the naval battle next year, and became a trophy. This time, Geng Jingzhong bought it and saved it from the shame of being captured.

The second class battleship "Suiftishur" is a typical three-deck battleship, which actually refers to a three-masted galleon with a three-deck full gun. The total length of the battleship is 50 meters (including the first mast is about 65 meters), the width is 13 meters, the draft is 5 meters, and the displacement is 2,100 tons, which should be equivalent to 6,400 materials of the Ming Fu ship; There are 750 authorized personnel. The ship carried 80 guns, with 28 guns on each of the lower decks, 5 guns on each side of the top deck near the bow, 5 guns on each side of the stern, and 4 stern guns.

The other battleship of the second rank was similar to the "Suiftishur", but it was older, and it had to be decommissioned after a maximum of two years of service. However, the other three smaller third-class battleships were much better, and they could serve for a long time, just like the "Suiftishur". Although the third-tier battleship is only two decks, it is also quite an advanced battleship.

After inspecting several warships, Geng Jingzhong immediately ordered all the personnel concerned to board the ships and set off for Fuzhou, where he had already selected a place for the development of the navy, that is, Fuzhou Mawei. At this time, Geng Jingzhong was useless, and was carried away by joy. He knew that he had bought so many warships, and the imperial court would never do anything to him at this time, but might push him to develop the navy; Taiwan's Zheng Jing controls the Taiwan Strait and has great influence in the South China Sea, and absolutely does not want to see anyone threaten his position.

What's more, the Qing court at this time did not have large warships, and China's large warships were all in the hands of Zheng Jing in Taiwan. Even so, Zheng Jing, a second- and third-class battleship with such firepower, only has a dozen or so. At this moment, these five warships fell into his eyes, just like a robber who saw a three-year-old child holding a big gold ingot, how could he not be greedy, and how could he not move.

Geng Jingzhong took the "Suifu Tishuer", no, it should be called the Dingyuan battleship at this moment, and went to Fuzhou.

"Shizi, put on your clothes, it's quite windy here." The guard Huang Dazhong was holding a coat in his hand and wanted Geng Jingzhong to put it on. The weather was bad in the past two days, and the wind and waves at sea were also strong, and the temperature dropped significantly.

Geng Jingzhong took the clothes and put them on, and asked casually, "Go and ask Captain Steve, how long will it take to arrive?" ”

"I asked just now, and he said he should be there tomorrow morning." Huang Dazhong immediately replied, he would ask this question every once in a while, and the captain and first mate were annoyed by the question.

"Dazhong, my lord has a question for you, you said, our five warships have sailed back to Fuzhou, what should we do if Taiwan's Zheng Jing comes to grab it?" Geng Jingzhong intends to cultivate his cronies, so he often asks some questions to test them.

Huang Dazhong was stunned, when the Qing army entered Fujian, he also followed Geng Jimao and Zheng Chenggong to fight, knowing that the Zheng family's maritime strength was very strong, he thought for a while and said: "Master, with our current strength, we will definitely not be able to defeat the Zheng family at sea." If you really want to run, you may not be able to run away, but his Zheng family doesn't dare to go ashore to fight us. We can dock the battleships in the Min River, and arrange batteries on both sides of the river as a precaution, and when we have cultivated our own navy and become stronger in a few years, we will not dare to attack the Zheng family lightly. ”

"Good! Dazhong, you are getting better and better, and you want to go with the master! Hahaha! Geng Jingzhong is becoming more and more satisfied with this veteran guard, who understands etiquette, knows how to advance and retreat, and pursues progress, and will be a great right-hand man in the future.

"It's all taught by the master at ordinary times, and the little ones don't dare to take credit!"

"The Zheng family has been on the sea for decades, and the sea strength has been extremely strong since the pre-Ming Dynasty, not only did he destroy the great pirate Liu Xiang but also defeated the Dutch many times, in this sea area, his Zheng family is the overlord, we have to obey it. If we want to develop the navy, the Zheng family is a hurdle that cannot be bypassed. However, blindly fighting with the Zheng family is also a very unwise choice. Therefore, we must beat the Zheng family to the side of the heart at one time, so that he does not dare to commit it lightly, and then send him to cooperate. It's like the heroes of Liangshan want to recruit An, and they are also afraid of the officers and soldiers who come to attack first, and the Great Song Dynasty court promised Song Jiang a high position! ”

Huang Dazhong listened quietly, nodded from time to time, and felt that what the prince said was very reasonable, if he kept fighting with the Zheng family, it would only hinder his own development and not have any benefits. However, it is imperative to deal with the difficulties at hand.

The next morning, five warships and some cargo ships had already entered the Wulong River, and the sea voyage was indeed much faster than walking on land, and if they returned to Fuzhou by horse-drawn carriage, they were afraid that it would take two days.

The officers and men inspecting outside Fuzhou were all taken aback when they saw the five huge battleships that were fully armed, and at first they thought that it was the Zheng family from Taiwan or the old Maozi from the West who had called them, but when they looked closely and saw that the huge battleship was flying the tiger flag that they were all too familiar with, they put their hearts back in their stomachs. However, I am also envious in my heart, and I am looking forward to when I can join the Tiger Army of Jingnan Palace, and it is best to go up to this majestic battleship, which will be glorious. Their wish will not be realized in a short time, but the brothers in the family can, there are really few children who grow up by the sea and the river who can't drive a boat, and the work in the water is all handy!

Five Western warships flying the tiger flag docked at Mawei, attracting people from hundreds of miles around to watch. The huge hull, the tall mast, and the dense muzzles and cannons all shocked everyone. At this time, the people were not sure whether these warships belonged to the Tigers, because there were not only Tigers but also Western flags on them.

This group of Western caravans came with these five Western warships under the British flag, and they have not all withdrawn until now, in order to confuse the public, the Zheng family has not yet known that this belongs to Geng Jingzhong, or it will not be long before the news that the warships belong to the Jingnan Palace, will reach Taiwan, and at that time, with Zheng Jing's temperament, he will definitely lead the army to take it, and it will be destroyed at the worst. So Geng Jingzhong has a month to prepare at most.

The matter was urgent, and after Geng Jingzhong disembarked, he immediately ordered the mobilization of men to build a fort in Mawei, and dismantled the heavy guns on the side of the battleship to build a fort for defense. All the cannons used by the army that had just been bought from Europe and the cannons on the city wall of Fuzhou were all placed on both sides of the river, and when all the batteries were ready, the dense muzzles of the guns would definitely give the Zheng family a huge surprise.