Fifteen days later, at the mouth of the Pearl River, the Dongfang sailed into this large estuary with the best navigation conditions in China in the early morning of a misty morning.

A group of people on the boat erupted in bursts of cheers, and the happiest of them was naturally Liu Mingde's uncle and nephew who saw his hometown. After Li Zhaoji saw the island, he immediately asked Liu Mingde to take the helm himself.

This is the best estuary is good, but it is not casual to run, outside the Lingding Ocean, there are more than 100 large and small islands such as Wanshan Islands and Potai Islands, the intricacies of the waterway, only the people who have been here for many years can control it, the Pearl River is turbulent, the monsoon is alternating regularly, the tide is unpredictable, so that the water flow here is still elusive, and some places are even more turbulent.

In fact, all the sea ships coming and going here need local fur seals to guide the water, not to mention, the Portuguese have been doing business here since the Jiajing period, and they still cannot fully grasp the hydrology of the Pearl River Estuary, especially the situation on the eastern side of Lantau Island.

It's just that the Portuguese are also familiar with this place, as long as they get lost, they can hang a flag for help, and the nearby Tan people and fur seals will provide services, especially the Tan people, who are the most professional, and they can speak the language of all the people who come and go here.

Of course, Li Zhaoji doesn't need it, Liu Mingde's uncle and nephew are local fur seals, and they are more professional than the Portuguese.

"There's a boat, there's a boat ahead!" Li Zhaoji had just finished arranging the shift change when he heard the lookout on the mast shouting loudly.

Li Zhaoji immediately rushed to the bow of the ship, took out his binoculars to observe the sea covered by mist, and faintly saw a fleet of ships, including three or more galleys, and the head was a three-masted ship, but the distance was too far for Li Zhaoji to distinguish the type of ship.

"Three masts? It should be Portuguese. Chen Liuzi said.

Liu Mingde also rushed at this time and directly denied Chen Liuzi's judgment: "No, it's the beginning of May, and it can't be Portuguese." ”

"Why?" Lee asked.

Liu Shun smiled: "Chief, the foreigners don't have the ability to sail here at this time." ”

Liu Mingde glared at his nephew and took the initiative to explain.

Originally, there were three shipping lanes in the Pearl River Estuary, which were called the Daxi, Longgu and Central Channels by local seafarers.

The Portuguese have been mixing locally for more than 100 years, that is, they have mastered the Great Western Passage, and they are not professional, they do not do detailed surveys, but they have some experience, and they rely on experience to avoid the reefs and sand dunes on the channel.

The Great Western Channel is the main channel, and the first channel marker in the open sea is Lao Wanshan Island, as long as you pass through this place, turn the rudder to the north, you can avoid the Great Hengqin Island and arrive at the Port of Macao. Of course, because the wind direction is difficult to master, and the unfamiliar with this place, many Portuguese merchant ships cannot succeed at one time, and most of the time they need to retreat to Shangxiachuan Island and come back several times.

For the Portuguese, this is also enough.

From June to August every year, there will be a regular monsoon at the mouth of the Pearl River, and the Portuguese merchant ships from India and Goa will enter the Lingding Ocean, and then sail to Guangzhou to participate in the Canton Fair, and then return to Macao for the winter, and in February of the following year, take advantage of the north wind to leave, for more than 100 years, it has been like this, and the thunder cannot be moved.

It's May, Portuguese merchant ships won't be on the Great Western Shipping Route, and Lee Siu-ji also knows that historically, this year's Canton Fair has been cancelled.

"Who could that be?" Li Zhaoji asked.

Liu Mingde frowned: "Maybe it's a pirate, maybe it's an official ship." ”

"Preferably pirates." Li Zhaoji frowned and said.

If it is a pirate, Li Zhaoji is not afraid, there are pirates in the mouth of the Pearl River, among which the four surnamed pirates are the main forces, but these pirate ships are many villains, except for fighting, there is no other means, as long as the artillery on the Dongfang comes to a salvo, it can deter these guys, and Liu Mingde is quite familiar with some of these pirates, if it is a pirate, spend money to fight it will be over.

But if it's an official ship, it's going to be difficult.

The reason is that the current governor of Liangguang is Shen Youlong, and Zheng Zhilong was appeased by Shen Youlong, who was the governor of Fujian at the time, but later Zheng Zhilong rebelled again for some reasons, and Xiong Wencan, the successor governor of Fujian, continued to appease, so that Zheng Zhilong, the guerrilla general of the Five Tigers, was achieved.

When Shen Youlong took office in Fujian, he rectified the coastal defense, eliminated the pirates, encouraged the people to fish, and turned the sea into fertile land, which was quite successful. In Guangdong, it still adheres to the old law of Fujian, and the power of the Pearl River pirates has been weakened, and more importantly, now the Ming Dynasty is headed by Shen Youlong, launching a crackdown on the five provincial capitals of Guangdong, Guangxi, Chu, Fujian, and Jiangxi.

At first, there were only 50 bills a year, but later increased to 88, and now there are more than 100. Coupled with the relationship between Shen Youlong and Zheng Zhilong, the king of the Fujian Sea, the ship guide he issued also has the effect of being protected in the open sea, so the price is very high.

In order to increase the value of ship guidance, it is necessary to eliminate smuggling ships, which Liu Mingde and others all know, and what Li Zhaoji is most worried about at this moment is that official ships are smuggling. He had just arrived in Guangdong, and he wanted to establish a foundation here, and under the unclear situation, it was not appropriate to conflict with the Ming Dynasty for the time being.

Suddenly, Liu Mingde caught the flag hoisted for the big ship, and he said, "Damn, it's an official ship." ”

One by one warships sailed out from the east of Hengqin Island, large and small, more than ten ships, on the bird boat at the head, a middle-aged man stood there in high spirits, feeling the dull sea breeze.

This person's name is Lin Cha, he is the chief soldier of Guangdong, the Ming Dynasty has no professional sailors in Guangdong, Lin Cha is the supreme leader of this water force, and in the last half a year, he has collected a large number of smuggling ships as warships according to Shen Youlong's orders, and for a time he was rampant on the ocean. The Portuguese in Macao, and the pirates in the open sea, did not dare to be presumptuous against him.

At this time, his fleet had just sailed out of the port of Macau, and had completed the task of beating the Portuguese. This is the Ming Dynasty, it is difficult to say that Macau is now a colony of the Portuguese, because those foreigners are very honest one by one, the annual tax of 20,000 taels of silver and the land rent of 500 taels of silver is a lot of income for the Ming Dynasty, and the Portuguese also need to undertake the task of sending troops to maintain local rule for the Ming Dynasty when necessary, and they are very aware of the times.

Of course, the Portuguese have also been a little presumptuous in recent years, for example, when Lin Cha went to inspect this time, he found that the Portuguese had built a number of forts in Macao, but considering the real money given by the Macau Council, he pretended not to see it.

"My lord, look over there!" A voice woke Lincha up.

Lin Cha turned his head to look, and what caught his eye was the Dongfang that sailed out of the mist, the three masts were particularly eye-catching, and the ship more than ten zhang long was tall and sturdy, but the flag was not hoisted on the mast, Lin Cha was a little uncertain: "It seems to be a foreign ship, call Li Yerong." ”

After a while, a man who nodded his head came to the deck, this person is an interpreter under Lin Cha, who has a lot of connections in Macao and Guangzhou, when the Weddell fleet visited, it was this Li Yerong who replaced the imperial court from it, he was originally the confidant of the previous Guangdong general army, and now he is with Lin Cha, and is still responsible for the relationship between the imperial court and Macao.

"Is that the ship of the Fur Robot?" Lin Cha asked.

Li Yerong shook his head after taking a closer look: "Definitely not, it seems that such a three-masted ship, the hands of the Francois are limited, and it is still on the way here at this time, how can it appear ......here." As he spoke, Li Yerong's eyes widened, and he pointed to a line of white letters on the stern of the ship and said, "General, please see, it is an English script, and it is a British ship." ”

"British ships?" Lin Cha was stunned for a moment when he heard this, obviously he didn't expect to see the British ship here, but then he laughed and said: "Pass the order, set up an attack, outflank the two wings of the fast crab, and this ship will follow." After approaching, order the enemy ship to anchor and inspect, and if there is any disobedience, capture it immediately. ”

A trumpet sounded, followed by flags flying, conveying Lin Cha's order, and everyone became excited.

Everyone invariably remembered the Weddell fleet five years ago, although that time, in the battle array, the Ming Dynasty was defeated by the opponent and suffered a little loss, but Yingyi was weak and bullied, and extremely rich, just bribery made the previous Guangdong general Chen Qian earn a lot of money, and at this time, how not to make people blush?

Besides, last time Yingyi had six gunboats, and now there is one, where is there still something to be afraid of, who knows about seizing ships and treasures on this Lingding Ocean?

"Turn to the southeast...... Don't panic, what are you afraid of! On the Dongfang, Li Zhaoji roared loudly, full of old fists at the sailors who were holding their heads and running around, while Chen Liuzi and Liu Mingde, one at the helm and the other in commanding the sailors, quickly turned and fled, and the target was the Longgu Waterway in the East.

The water is deep but the channel is narrow, which is very unfriendly to sailing ships, and even more unfriendly is where pirates are entrenched, and in the face of official ships, they will definitely block it.

"Ah Shun, move all the arquebuses out and distribute them, and then there will be reloading artillery!" Li Zhaoji said.

Liu Shun's face was full of sweat, he had never been an enemy of the official army in his life, as a fart citizen, he instinctively thought of rebellion, so he had some psychological burden. He hurriedly said: "Chief, the brothers have been practicing for more than ten days, and they can't play with those firearms at all." ”

"It's good to start, get ready, listen to my orders." Lee Siu Kee ordered.