At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou was still a seaside city.

At this time, the Qiantang River estuary was in the shape of a trumpet, and there was no siltation of the estuary, and the river channel turned around.

The places that belong to the land in the later generations are some of the seas at this time; In the future, there is land in the sea.

Grains from Suzhou and Zhenjiang, fuel, oil, fish and livestock, and forest products from Ming, Yan, Qu, Hui and other prefectures. There are also timber and mountain delicacies in southwest Zhejiang, seafood from the east coast of Zhejiang, as well as precious textiles such as lake silk, Yue Aya, and Wuluo...... The above goods are all gathered towards Hangzhou!

Due to the heavy inland river transportation, Hangzhou can no longer accommodate too many sea vessels, so the real sea trade port has been moved to the town of Lupu in the southwest of Haiyan County.

Don't look at it as just a town, but it has many yamen institutions and a very large number of officials.

There are civil officials and town supervisors, military officials and town generals, and there are those who are specifically responsible for salt taxes and customs duties. There are even military garrisons, as well as offshore patrol ships.

The salt tax and customs duties here have become the financial lifeblood of the small imperial court in the southeast!

Not long after the Qiantang tide passed, more and more ships from the south gathered. They all docked near the town of Pengpu and spent months unloading, selling, buying, repairing ships, and waiting for the winter winds and currents to arrive before moving south.

From Da Shi, Ji Luo, Gelpa, Champang, Bo Ni, Ma Yi, and Srivijaya...... Merchants in other places are negotiating business with local dental dealers.

They sell goods through Guanya, and buy goods through Guanya.

A large number of small offshore boats came from the direction of Hangzhou to bring inland goods to the town of Pengpu, and transported the goods unloaded by the sea vessels to Hangzhou.

Cao Xun leaned on the chair and yawned, he was the guard who followed Song Huizong to flee south. As a disciple of the Cao family and a close attendant of Song Huizong, he was naturally able to be reused and was arranged to be a town general in Pengpu Town.

The official position is not big, but the oil and water are quite abundant!

As for the town supervisor of Lupu Town, it is Cai Yanchen, Cai You's distant nephew.

More than a dozen ships sailed from the north, and the navigator was a master from Haimen, who knew how to avoid the Qiantang tide in August every year, and also knew when the wind and waves were the smallest.

As the ships sailed into Hangzhou Bay, small ships approached to guide them on where to dock and be inspected.

This kind of small ship, called the Silu Haiguan, is only more than ten meters long.

Li Bao had already put on his armor and said to the captain: "Rush over and go straight to the outside of Hangzhou!" ”

The ship waved the flag, and the ships behind it lined up to follow.

"Stop, stop!"

"Dangdang, dang!"

"Just dock in Lupu Town, you can't go to Hangzhou, there are no vacancies in the port over there!"

The soldiers on the patrol ship shouted loudly while banging on the gong.

They didn't really think much about it, thinking that these merchant ships didn't understand the rules and wanted to sail directly to Hangzhou for trade.

Seeing that more than a dozen ships were still on rampage, the soldiers of Luopu Town finally realized that something was wrong and began to call for the warships parked in the harbor.

The reaction of those warships is very slow, and it is estimated that they are usually lazy, and they are in a hurry when they really encounter something.

Most of the warships that sailed slowly were eight-oar warships, with a hull length of about 256 meters. There were also two two-masted multi-oared boats, which were smaller but larger than the previous four-slung falcons.

Li Bao rode all the seaships, and there was not a serious warship.

A thousand heavily armored guards, all sitting cross-legged in the cabin. They are not used to taking sea boats, so they trained in Haimen for a month, and now the result is that they do not get seasick.

What's more, it is inconvenient to move in heavy armor.

Thousands of Kuizhou soldiers wearing medium-sized armor came to the deck one after another.

There were also nearly 1,000 miscellaneous soldiers, dressed in cloth clothes and carrying sabers, ready to fight at any time.

These miscellaneous soldiers are all from Chongming Island.

At this time, of course, there is no Chongming Island, but there are nearly ten sandbars, large and small. There are small people surnamed Yao, Liu, Zhu, Zhang, and Chen, who have successively moved to the sandbar to cultivate, and they are contemptuously called "Shamin".

Because the area of the sandbar is not large, the food is not enough to survive, and I usually have to go fishing, and occasionally make a cameo appearance as a bandit to rob the boat.

Living in poverty, with a ferocious temperament, and not afraid of death, he was hit by Li Baoxiang at a glance, and after simple training, he was brought to attack Hangzhou.

Seeing the warships in Luopu Town coming, Li Bao ordered: "Raise the banner of the Ming Dynasty, and each ship will find an opportunity to fire cannons." ”

Li Bao did not have musketeers in his hands, and all the muskets were on the northwest border, so when he fought in the public security street battle before, he suffered huge casualties in the face of the deadly Chu army.

But he had a cannon in his hand, so he brought a few of them with him and installed them on these merchant ships.

Cao Xun was napping and was soon woken up by his own soldiers. When he learned that someone had broken through, he scolded and went out with a knife, and when he came to the dock, two warships had already surrounded him, and the rest of the warships were still in a mess and didn't know what they were doing.

"I don't know if I'm alive or dead!"

Cao Huan's eyes were already shining at this time, and there were more than ten sea ships, and I don't know how many goods were in them.

Dare to forcibly punch the card, as long as this situation is intercepted, all the goods on the ship can be confiscated, and Cao Huan can take the opportunity to make a big profit.

"What flag is that?" A sailor shouted.

Cao Xun fixed his eyes and saw that although the distance was very far, those flags were very large, and the sun and moon patterns were faintly visible.

"Pseudo-...... Pseudo-Ming? ”

Cao Xun's voice began to tremble, he had never seen the Ming Banner, but the sun and moon patterns could be naturally associated.

"Boom!"

Because an eight-oar warship was too close, the Ming army finally fired cannons, and the shells tore the ship's side open.

The sailors on board were so frightened that they hurriedly swayed and fled.

The captains of the Ming army also began to shoot arrows at the Silu Sea Falcon, shooting condescendingly at close range, killing and wounding more than 20 people in an instant.

Most of these sailors in front of him are natives of Hangzhou.

Not to mention that they have never fought, even their fathers have never been warn. When Fang La captured Hangzhou, these sailors fled directly by boat, and they also waved their flags and shouted throughout the counterattack.

A guy who has never seen blood, how can he still dare to fight to the death?

The warships that were about to surround them retreated one after another when they saw this, and let Li Bao lead the fleet and sail towards Hangzhou with a swagger.

"How? How? What to do......" Cao Xun was already scared stupid.

Cai Yanchen, the supervisor of Lupu Town, rushed to hear the news and asked in a panic: "What's wrong?" But there are pirates coming? ”

Cao Xun pointed to the flotilla in the distance: "The Ming army is a pseudo-Ming army!" ”

"Quickly light the beacon fire and send a small boat to report the news!" Cai Yanchen shouted.

From Hangzhou to Xiuzhou (Jiaxing), and then to Suzhou and Wuxi, it is connected by canals and has been connected to the Yangtze River.

Haiyan County also has a canal, which first passes through Yanguan County and connects to the canal in Chang'an Town.

Small boats paddled quickly in the canal, and wolf smoke lit from the piers near the salt works.

Along the way, the wolf smoke rose one after another, and when Li Bao led the army to cross the Ochre Mountain, the wolf smoke also rose from the Ochre Mountain.

The wharf outside Hangzhou fell into chaos in an instant.

Thinking that the pirates were coming, they fled in a panic, and the soldiers defending the city were so frightened that they closed the city gates.

"Official, official, there are bandits looting!"

"Defend the city, Xiang Ziming will take the guards to defend it!"

It's just a group of pirates, Song Huizong is not afraid, from his southern hunting to here, there are local people in Hangzhou who have rebelled.

Xiang Ziming, of course, after Xiang Minzhong, is now in charge of Gong Weixing, and the three thousand guards under his command are all recruited from Hangzhou.

Li Bao ordered a team of soldiers to go to the wharf to requisition ships and block the Qiantang River to prevent Song Huizong from escaping south.

Then he asked those miscellaneous soldiers to demolish the houses outside the city, clear the obstacles for artillery firing, and collect wood to make siege equipment by the way. Then divide the troops to go around to the north, and also requisition ships to block the Huantang River and the Jiangnan Canal.

Including the miscellaneous soldiers, Li Baohui had a total of more than 8,000 people, and he even dared to besiege the city in three ways, and he didn't take the defenders of Hangzhou in his eyes at all!

The heavily armored guards disembarked cautiously, their feet were limp and they were finally safe touching the dock floor.

"It's not a bandit, it's a pseudo-Ming killing, hurry up and tell Your Majesty!" Xiang Ziming, who had just ascended the city tower, shouted in horror.

Hangzhou was on the line, and Li Yan crawled in front of Song Huizong: "Official, it's not good, there are Zhu thief's soldiers outside the city!" ”

"Zhu thief?"

Song Huizong didn't react for a while, and then his face turned pale with fright, and he shouted while undressing: "Run away!" ”

The main force of the small court in the southeast, except for those sent out to suppress bandits, were all attracted to the Jingxiang battlefield. A large number of people were stationed in Jiangzhou (Jiujiang) and Hukou, and they could pay attention to the battle between the Ming and the puppet Chu at any time, and they could send troops to help Zhong Xiang fight, or they could take the opportunity to kill the north bank of the Yangtze River.

As for the cities along the south bank of the Yangtze River, there are also many van troops on the defensive.

Even in the Taihu Lake area, there are Cai You leading Zhu Mian's private soldiers to suppress thieves.

Only Hangzhou had an empty army, only 3,000 new guards, and the rest were all unbearable local van troops.

Those newly formed Praetorian Guards, just to scare the common people, how can they confront the army of tigers and wolves?

Song Huizong didn't even care about the concubines, so he rushed around with a group of eunuchs and snatched the beggars' clothes to change into. He also stained his face and hands with his hair and hair, but found that he could not get out of the city, and several walls were closed.

"Let Xiang Ziming open all the city gates, and then tell the people that the puppet Ming thieves are going to slaughter the city," Song Huizong was quite anxious and wise, and said to Li Yan, "You take people to set fire everywhere, and escape while the chaos breaks out after the fire in the city!" ”

"Boom!"

By the time they set the fire, the miscellaneous soldiers had cleared out a few houses outside the moat, and several wrought-iron field guns were dragged there to test the guns.

It did not hit the city wall, but it hit the eaves of the tower.

The soldiers who were guarding near the city were frightened and uneasy, and they were about to flee.

Xiang Ziming was about to pacify the soldiers, but he heard shouts from inside the city, and several houses in the streets were set on fire.

One of the guards exclaimed: "There are enemy troops in the city!" ”

The meticulous work of the Ming army, of course, is the emperor.

The Song Hui sect sent people to set fire, and the soldiers defending the city were frightened.

"Run away, there is a fine work in the city, and it can't be defended anymore!" The soldiers of the Xiang Army, who were temporarily brought in to defend the city, were the first to abandon the city wall and turn around and flee.

Li Yan ran out of breath for a while, and finally found Xiang Ziming: "Open the city gate quickly, the city gates are open on all sides!" ”

Xiang Ziming yelled anxiously: "You can't open the city gate, otherwise you won't be able to fight." The city can be pressed by fine work, and let the Hangzhou prefect organize the people to fight the fire! ”

Li Yan said: "The fire was set by the official, open the city gate quickly!" ”

"Official...... The official set on fire? Xiang Ziming couldn't believe it, unable to understand Song Huizong's brain circuit.

The Ming troops outside the city came from the sea and belonged to the lone army.

As long as Hangzhou holds out for ten days, the river defense troops can come back to the rescue, what the hell is the emperor himself who took the initiative to set fire?

"Open the gates!" Li Yan yelled.

Xiang Ziming said angrily: "If you want to open the city gate, you go by yourself, which soldier dares to stop you by showing your waist card?" ”

Li Yan said: "We and the official family are all dressed in disguise, how can we show our identity?" ”

As the two spoke, there was chaos in the city.

The fire everywhere was only one thing, and it was also because the eunuchs deliberately spread rumors that the puppet thieves would slaughter the city if they came in.

A large number of people at the bottom are ignorant, they are easily instigated, and they are also prone to panic en masse. People who have also read several of Zhu Ming's essays don't believe this kind of rumor very much, but these people are only a minority.

The news that the Ming army was going to slaughter the city soon spread to half of the city.

Hundreds of people rushed to the city gates with their families, and the guards quickly fell into panic, and then the soldiers and civilians opened the city gates.

Song Huizong was dressed as a beggar, sandwiched in a group of chaotic people, and was squeezed into the separation of the eunuchs, so he went out from the northwest gate in a daze.

There was Li Bao divided his troops to guard the Huantang River, and the people saw that the Ming army was driving a boat to block the river, and there were also Ming troops lined up on the moat bridge, and they immediately believed the rumor that the Ming army was going to slaughter the city.

"Run!"

"There are few soldiers here, rush over!"

"Jump into the river, jump into the river and swim through!"

“……”

A large number of civilians tried to storm the bridge, and the Ming army guarding there could only use wolf milling, boring palladium, and spears to stab wildly.

After killing and wounding twenty or thirty people, those behind did not dare to rush forward and rushed to the card, and jumped into the moat one after another.

Song Huizong was also in the river and was squeezed down.

He can swim, but the water is not very good, and he will do a few tricks in.

"Gollum~~"

Song Huizong pressed a person's shoulder, and his head finally surfaced, but he was quickly pulled by his sleeve.

Fortunately, the beggar's clothes were shabby, and when Song Huizong was torn off, his sleeves were directly torn off in half, and he hurriedly pressed the shoulders of the person in front of him to float.

"How?"

The Ming soldiers who were in charge of guarding the bridge looked at the dense crowd of people around them and didn't know how to deal with it.

"The military order is to guard the bridge, don't worry about anything else!" The officer shouted.

Guarding a fart bridge, hundreds of people swam across the moat and fled frantically towards the outskirts.

Song Huizong poured a stomach of water, and finally swam to the other side of the river, unable to climb to the shore. He didn't dare to stay at all, mixed in with the chaotic people, and ran wildly towards the northwest.

(End of chapter)