Po Toi.

The wind was blowing from the northeast, and a dhowing approached the flagship, the Vostok.

With the sound of the horn and cannon, the ship immediately sounded with the trumpet and small drum played military music, rapid and sonorous, on the stern of the ship, Chen Liuzi gave an order: "The commander arrives, line up, salute!" ”

In the cabin, two columns of soldiers rushed out, both of them wearing triangular military hats made of cowhide, with copper cockades inlaid on the front horn, double-breasted blouses, and straight postures, black trousers, which made people stand tall.

All were armed with an arquebus, with an arquebus wrapped around their arms, and two satchels hanging cross-legged from their shoulders, with a water bottle and medical kit on the left and an ammunition box and bayonet on the right.

When Li Zhaoji boarded the Dongfang, the soldiers were already lined up, watching with guns, and Li Zhaoji walked past the queue with his saber and nodded slightly at the soldiers.

"It's majestic."

On the stern of the ship, a young scribe couldn't help but praise and said that he was Chen Shangchuan, while the middle-aged man on his side said, "It's just a merchant who is crowned by a monkey." ”

This person is Chen Zizhuang's eldest son, Chen Huairen, who has been serving as an assistant in the regimental defense bureau, assisting his father, who is old and lacking energy, to seize the regimental training, this time, Chen Huairen led the fleet to participate in the encirclement and suppression of the four pirates.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, literati liked military affairs, and Chen Huairen was no exception.

Mr. Lee inspected the ship's armed men and sailors, and as usual, he laughed and talked with the rank-and-file soldiers.

Everything started on this ship, and he was full of familiarity with the Vostok, but every time he boarded the ship, the familiar faces became fewer and the familiar scenes changed.

Some of the people on board were promoted to high-ranking positions, some were killed in battle, and the ship was very different after three renovations and one reconstruction.

Before this expedition, Li Zhaoji reorganized in Tamsui and formally established the navy, the artillery fleet where the Dongfang was located was designated as the first fleet, and the galleys were the second fleet, and the Dongfang and Tamsui River were called flagships.

It's just that the ships of the First Fleet are all drawn from armed merchant ships, and they will definitely be disbanded for trade after the war, so there is no need to set up a fleet commander, and Li Zhaoji is also the commander of the First Fleet.

"Brother Chen's words are bad, although Shopkeeper Li was born reckless and self-made, but every time he acts, there are many heroic and righteous deeds, and he is an unborn hero. This fleet is becoming more and more disciplined, and it is also beneficial to break thieves and suppress thieves in the imperial court. Chen Shangchuan said.

Chen Huairen glanced at him and said, "Brother Shengcai, you are walking in Li Zhaoji's club now, so you naturally speak towards him." But don't forget, you are my Ming person, don't lose the spirit of the literati, and be soaked in the copper smell of the merchants.

You are also a person now, and it is really unwise to commit yourself to a businessman.

For my brother's advice, it is better to study the scriptures behind closed doors and prepare for the next year's examination. ”

After that, Chen Huairen brushed his sleeves away, but he didn't even pay attention to Li Zhaoji.

Li Zhaoji laughed and said: "It's good to go, if he leaves, there will be less trouble." There is only one Mr. Chen on this boat, looking at his appearance, who is not a lifter? ”

"I can't afford to be a big shopkeeper to say so, although I have been promoted in the next, but my knowledge is still very shallow." Chen Shangchuan said.

On the same day, he was sponsored by Tang Mu and Li Sizhi in Macau, and he was lucky to pass the examination.

Li Zhaoji didn't care, took Chen Shangchuan's hand into the stern, and said, "Mr. Chen, you are not a pedantic person who ignores things outside the window and only reads the books of sages. If you think like this, if you are a person in the examination, is you a talent in the world?

Now that the Ming Dynasty is in danger, if a scholar wants to serve the country, it is not enough to rely on the four books and five classics.

Even if you can't organize the army and fight the military, you should understand the soldiers and the people, and the criminal name spell, right? ”

When Chen Shangchuan heard this, he nodded heavily, and Li Zhaoji said: "Although my trading company is not an official government of the imperial court, it is no different from the official government when it is configured. When you do things here, you can at least learn something that can be applied to the world.

If you learn my ability to build ships and train soldiers, you will be the savior of the Dingkuang Fu Sheji. ”

"Don't dare, students just want to experience one or two, and do more good governance in the future to benefit one party, that is." Chen Shangchuan said.

Lee Siu-kee said: "It's easy to say, after the pirates are exterminated, Hong Kong will open customs, and you can do it." ”

"Thank you, big boss." Chen Shangchuan clenched his fists and said, "There is a request below, I don't know if the big shopkeeper can grant it." ”

Li Zhaoji motioned to him and said, Chen Shangchuan said: "Although Zai Xia is a literati, he also likes martial arts, especially in this trading company, everyone is armed, even ordinary sailors, there are swords and axes in hand in wartime, and only the next person is ......empty-handed." ”

"Come on, come on......." Li Zhaoji beckoned Chen Shangchuan to go up to the second floor, where a small bedroom was exclusive to Li Zhaoji, which contained books and other things, and on the bulkhead on the side, there were all kinds of weapons, flintlock pistols, and all kinds of swords.

"This sword, seized from Sado, how about giving it to you?" Li Zhaoji handed over a Japanese knife to Chen Shangchuan.

Chen Shangchuan first weighed it a few times, then drew his knife in his hand and waved it, quite decently. Li Zhaoji remembered that when they first met, this Mr. Chen helped each other in the porridge shed, calling himself Chen Yiluo, thinking that he liked to travel since he was a child, and he had some kung fu.

At noon, Li Zhaoji hosted a banquet for the principal officers of the two fleets on the Dongfang, and after a military meeting in the afternoon, Chen Liuzi took the Second Fleet and left to sail west.

Chen Shangchuan was fortunate to be present at the military conference, and even in terms of position arrangement, he was higher than Chen Huairen, which made him very happy.

Although he did not speak, he also knew Li Zhaoji's naval strategy to suppress the thieves.

Between Hong Kong and Kowloon, there is a narrow and tortuous strait, and it is difficult for armed merchant ships such as the Orient to carry out.

But it was a sneak attack, and if it was a decisive battle, and the towed boat was attacked, it would be all over. And the ships of the pirates are all moored in the strait.

Therefore, Lee divided the fleet into two, and the First Fleet arranged all the gunboats and a small galleys to anchor in the Blue Pool Strait between Hong Kong Island and the mainland, directly blocking the eastern exit of the strait.

Chen Liuzi led the galleys to attack in the vicinity of Tsim Sha Tsui, gradually entering the strait, using artillery to clear the pirates' ships in the strait, forcing them to fight a decisive battle, or fleeing into the ambush circle of the First Fleet in the east.

The method is very simple, the key is whether Chen Liuzi's fleet can defeat the pirates head-on.

After the departure of the Second Fleet, the First Fleet anchored at Po Toi and waited for two days, leaving plenty of time for the Second Fleet to maneuver to its position.

In the past two days, Chen Shangchuan went up and down the fleet like a curious baby, and what he saw were busy sailors, and soldiers waiting for the day, as well as those cold and heavy artillery, because there was Li Zhaoji's token, so he went anywhere, even if he visited the powder magazine, of course, the premise was to search his body, hand over weapons and ignitions.

On the morning of October 11, the fleet suddenly began to get busy, because it was time to set out, Chen Shangchuan watched the sailors busy in the stern, and then saw Li Zhaoji who was doing squats, he had already discovered that although the big shopkeeper was in a high position, he had a good work and rest, he got up very early every morning, ate in time, and liked to exercise, although the action looked a little funny in Chen Shangchuan, but whenever he finished exercising, he would be full of energy.

"Mr. Chen, get up early." Li Zhaoji said to Chen Shangchuan with a smile.

This interrupted Chen Shangchuan's thinking, and Li Zhaoji said: "What, does I look funny? ”

Chen Shangchuan hurriedly shook his head: "No, I just want to think about a question." ”

"Please."

"Look at those sailors, they're cleaning the deck, but it's so clean, they cleaned it last night, why do they want to clean it now?" Chen Shangchuan asked.

"What do you think?"

Chen Shangchuan said: "This should be the rule set on the ship, and in addition, when the officer sees that the ship is dirty and then cleans up, he will be punished." But the problem is that the soldiers of the Freshwater battalion are running on the boat, and they will stain the freshly wiped deck again, but at this time, it will no longer be cleaned. ”

Li Zhaoji smiled: "Yes, you guessed all right, but not all right." The sailors cleaned the deck and the infantry ran for one thing, and that was attrition.

They are all young people, with the most vigorous vitality in their lives, and most of them have no wives and children, so they have few scruples about doing things. Both the ship and the barracks are places of extremely strict control, so at least the slightest negligence or mistake will cause a mutiny, that is, a battalion roar.

Therefore, in the army, it is not only necessary to have severe punishment and strict laws, but also to arrange their lives from morning to night, and use heavy labor or training to release their energy.

There is a saying among the Tessians that God laughs when man thinks. But in the army, when a soldier thinks about it, it is easy to get out of the camp. The best soldiers should be absolutely obedient, and it is better not to let them think. And to do this, it is to consume, so that they can't stop, and when they stop, they want to rest. ”

"That's why you put so many subjects on your soldiers." Chen Shangchuan said.

He had already noticed that both the sailors on the ship and the soldiers of the Freshwater battalion who temporarily lived on it were busy from morning to night. The sailors rotate in three shifts, and they also have time to learn to shoot muskets and operate artillery, and even in the Tamsui camp where they live temporarily, the day is occupied by running and training.

Everyone lay in the cramped hammock and slept like dead pigs in less than a quarter of an hour.

But there is not no entertainment in the army, but all entertainment is competitive.

The infantry would have a musket reloading competition, using sand instead of gunpowder, and the sailors would be trained to operate the artillery.

Chen Shangchuan found that all competitions, even if the musket loading can be completed by one person, will not be a single competition, but will be carried out on the basis of a group and team.

And there are rewards for every competition, but not all of them are related to money, such as the running infantry, the first team running at the front, with a beautiful feather stuck in the military cap, that is the fastest team in yesterday's reloading competition.

Chen Shangchuan asked: "Big shopkeeper, did you learn these training methods from Yangyi?" ”

Li Zhaoji smiled and said: "Learning from Yangyi, does it make people feel that they have fallen into their own identity?" ”

Chen Shangchuan shook his head: "But it's not, this foot is short, the inch is long, everyone is like this, not to mention one country and one family." No matter where the good law and good instruments come from, whatever is useful for the country and beneficial to the people, there is nothing to learn. It is like a bird, and I heard people say that my Ming bird gun is imitated from the Japanese country, but the imitation bird gun was first used to resist the Japanese.

And the Fran cannon is combined, and I made it to deal with the Dongyu, which is a sharp weapon. ”

"Good knowledge, good heart. Come, Mr. Chen, let's have breakfast together, let's talk while eating. ”

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