Xia Xun's eastward trip was not as casual as before. In the past, he could sleep when he wanted to, get up when he remembered, and stop and go at will. But now, this is not the case. The official's guard of honor is placed there, and officials greet him wherever he goes.
Ten miles away from the prefecture and county, there was a big banquet in the city. All the qualified officials, gentry and famous people in the city came to accompany them, and there was constant flattery amidst the sounds of singing and dancing.
However, the flattery of these veteran eunuchs will never make you feel uncomfortable. Their speaking skills are so superb that they clearly flatter you but make you unable to feel it. Unknowingly, you are in a state of ecstasy.
Of course, the reason why these officials are so fawning is not only because of his high rank and honorable status, but also the main reason is that these officials are all retained by Jianwen's old ministers and have limited understanding of Zhu Di. They are also aware of the great purges in the capital these days.
Everyone had heard the news, and they were afraid that this trend would spread from the capital to the whole country, and they would also suffer.
Until they heard that the emperor had no intention of expanding the purge, especially the words that Zhu Di had recently repeated in front of Jianwen's old ministers in order to express his intentions: "You are all the descendants of Taizu, so naturally you are loyal to Jianwen. Now I inherit the throne, and everyone
As long as you focus on state affairs and be loyal to me, you will not be held accountable for past events." This was considered to be at ease.
Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang was greedy and jealous, and Zhu Di was just like him. The atmosphere at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty was relatively upright. These officials did not know the temperament of Yang Xu, the auxiliary Duke, so no one dared to do anything to him.
Yang Xu, who bribed, gave away women, and went all the way east, was prepared to refuse corruption and never get involved, but this time he felt like he had lost something.
He doesn't really want to accept bribes or a few beauties, but... it's good to look at the rare treasures and all kinds of beauties to gain experience and refuse them sternly.
It is said that when Xia Xun first watched "Return to the Ming Dynasty to Be a Prince", he was quite fascinated by the romantic story of Yang Ling going to the south of the Yangtze River to eliminate the three eunuchs, and then meeting Cheng Qiyun, who "listened to the spring rain all night in the small building" and became the second stall holder.
Yes, this was a bad idea of Xia Xun, who suddenly rose to a high position. How could those officials know about it, so this flattery was not quite on point.
Xia Xun rushed to Changguowei and met with the governor Chen Xuan who came here to garrison on the order of Emperor Yongle. Most of Chen Xuan's boatmen were inland ships, which were easy to travel on inland rivers and difficult to go to sea. However, patrolling and defending along the coast were still possible.
It can be done. Chen Xuan welcomed Xia Xun into the Chinese army. After some courtesy, Xia Xun asked about the situation on Shuangyu Island.
Chen Xuan said: "Most of the general's warships are inland river ships and are not suitable for long voyages. Therefore, the general does not know much about the situation on the outer sea. The pirates entrenched on Shuangyu Island are hundreds of miles away. Compared with
The Shuangyu pirates are responsible for the scourge of Japanese pirates, so I don’t have much contact with them, and I don’t know much about them. I only know that they haven’t been seen near the sea recently. I don’t know if it’s because I have strengthened the navy’s strength.
, we were still restrained by the Japanese pirates.”
Xia Xun's expression changed and he asked: "Do Japanese pirates still come to the coast to harass you now?"
Chen Xuan said: "Since Beizhi reinforced the coast defense station, the navy's strength has greatly increased. The Japanese pirates have come a few times and suffered heavy losses. Recently, there have been fewer harassers. However, since the Duke asked, Beizhi has some ideas.
I would like to ask the Duke to report to His Majesty on my behalf."
Xia Xun said hurriedly: "Captain, please speak."
Chen Xuan said: "My lord, since ancient times there has been a saying: 'You can only commit a thief in a thousand days, but you can't guard against a thief in a thousand days.' Our current move of mobilizing a large number of naval personnel to patrol the coast day and night is too costly, and the naval officers and soldiers also bear the burden."
Sorry, this cannot last forever. If our Ming Dynasty's thousands of miles of maritime territory are defended with this passive method of being beaten, the investment in coastal defense alone will be enough to consume the imperial court."
Xia Xun nodded, deeply convinced.
Seeing that he agreed, Chen Xuan perked up and spoke more energetically: "But once the navy withdraws, or the number and frequency of patrols is reduced, it is difficult to guarantee that the Japanese pirates will not come back to kill them.
Real deterrence can only deal a heavy blow to them. In this case, we must have ships that can sail long distances and train soldiers who can fight long distances."
Further down, Chen Xuan was talking about professional knowledge in ship manufacturing and navy training, which Xia Xun sounded like he had only a partial understanding of.
After the last conversation with Ming'er, Xia Xun has realized that as a time traveler, his advantage is only in grasping the general trend, and he is not better than others in other aspects, especially in various professional fields, which was still hundreds of years ago.
In various professional fields, even an expert in this field in modern times may not understand the technical standards limited by this era and various technical terms that have long been abandoned. If he is better than those in these industries,
A person who has been immersed in it all his life still understands that he is not a human being, but a god.
Therefore, Xia Xun neither feels inferior nor has any intention to inquire. He is not here to be a technician. If this matter involves him, then he only needs to grasp the general direction and create sufficient conditions for those professionals. He
Interrupting Chen Xuan's words, he ordered: "Captain Chen, the Emperor is also determined to build a powerful Ming Navy. I think your memorial at this time will definitely be taken seriously by the Emperor."
Chen Xuan was overjoyed when he heard this and quickly agreed.
While the two were talking, Luo Yu, commander of the Hangzhou Bay Naval Guard Station, rushed over after a long journey.
Chen Xuan quickly stood up and introduced: "My lord, this is Luo Yu, the commander of the Hangzhou Bay Navy. He has several ships suitable for long voyages. If the lord wants to go to Shuangyu Island in person, Commander Luo will personally lead it."
The ship is traveling together."
Luo Yu hurriedly stepped forward, knelt down on one knee, and saluted Xia Xun with cupped fists: "Luo Yu, the last general of Hangzhou Navy, pays homage to Duke Fu!"
Before his body bowed down completely, Xia Xun had already taken a step forward, used his arms to lift him up, smiled at him, and said, "Master Luo, long time no see!"
Luo Yu looked at him and felt that he looked very familiar. He was stunned for a moment and then said: "General... have you met the Duke?"
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At the beginning of September, the sky was clear and deep blue. The sky was high and the clouds were clear, and the sea breeze was strong. When I stood on the bridge, I saw thousands of hectares of waves in front of me, and my mind suddenly felt broad.
"Ziqi, thank you, Ying'er, I'm here! And Xiaodi, and my precious daughter..."
Xia Xun's hands tightly grasped the side of the boat that was warmed by the sun, and he was very excited. There had been separation before, but it didn't seem to be such a strong feeling. I don't know if it was because the separation lasted too long this time, or because he was getting older and started to
Love home.
Thinking of his beautiful wife, who is as beautiful as a flower, he felt distraught for a moment; thinking of his precious daughter, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. However, thinking that he had earned such fame and status, and that his wife and daughter could live a happier life from now on, he felt sincerely.
Pride and pride.
Just when Xia Xun's mood fluctuated with the turbulent waves, the sentry ship ahead suddenly sent back a flag. Luo Yu had been directing the advancement of the warship on the second deck. This time, there were four warships accompanying Xia Xun to Shuangyu.
There are a large ship, ten centipede speedboats, and six sentinel boats. Although Xia Xun has already said that he has an alliance with Shuangyu, and he is here to recruit peace, not to fight, but the Duke is on the ship, and once he gets out,
Things are their responsibility, and Luo Yu doesn't dare to be careless.
As soon as the ship went out to sea, three large ships guarded Xia Xun's flagship in the center. Ten centipede speedboats were arranged left and right in the shape of a wild goose's wings, while six sentinels with two cabins in the front, rear, left, and right were distributed ten miles away from the sea route. Now that there are
The sentinel ship returned and sent out a signal. There must be something going on ahead. Luo Yu became nervous and immediately ordered to slow down and stop the ship. At the same time, he rushed to the upper deck to report the situation to Xia Xun.
The two waited patiently for a while, and the sentry boat sailed under the battleship. They set up a ladder for the people on the sentinel boat to climb onto the ship. They ran to Xia Xun and Luo Yu and reported: "Report, Lord Commander, the sea area ahead."
A melee is taking place, involving dozens of large and small ships."
Xia Xun was stunned and asked: "Who is fighting?"
The guard ship soldier said: "One of them is flying the Shuangyu pirate flag, and the other is flying the flag of Hachiman Dabodhisattva, which is a Japanese ship."
Luo Yu looked at Xia Xun. Xia Xun did not hesitate and immediately ordered: "Go forward at full speed and meet us!"
Luo Yu said: "The strength of the enemy is unknown, and the number is unknown. Besides, the Shuangyu pirates don't know that the ship of our officers and soldiers is here to recruit them. Once we join the war, we may easily cause misunderstandings, and we may be attacked on both sides. The general will naturally not be afraid.
But the status of the Duke is precious, just in case..."
Xia Xun was only worried that Su Ying was also on the boat on the Shuangyu side, fearing that something might happen to her. He waved his hand and said: "If we help them relieve the siege, wouldn't it be easier to recruit them? Besides, these Japanese pirates invade our coast and burn fire."
They kill, loot, and rape women, and they do all kinds of evil. Now that we have the opportunity to fight with them, we, the Ming Navy, are responsible for guarding the sea and protecting the people. How can we let them go so easily and move forward at full speed?"
Luo Yu had no choice but to give orders to go on. Several large ships filled up their sails, and the Centipede speedboat moved forward with all its strength, gliding lightly across the sea, leaving behind white water lines.
"Hurry up, hurry up! Damn it, Chen Erzhuang, throw the oil barrel over to me!"
He Tianyang stood on an ordinary pirate ship with his arms bare, and was fighting against a large Japanese pirate ship. One side used scratching hooks to hook the other side's side of the ship, and the other side used a long bamboo pole that was sharpened and soaked in tung oil to force the force.
Some of the warriors who jumped into the gang were holding long knives and short axes, holding the cable with one hand, and wandered to the other side's boat.
In short, our ship is the enemy, and the enemy ship is ours, and everything is in chaos. The man He Tianyang called Chen Erzhuang was a man as strong as an ox. He was also tall, about 1.9 meters tall, with a shaved head and a face full of flesh. He was very
Fierce. He picked up a bucket of tung oil, his arms tensed with muscles like mounds, and with a loud shout, he threw the bucket of tung oil weighing several dozen kilograms directly onto the Japanese pirate's boat across the sea more than two feet away.
"Boom!" The tung oil barrel fell to the ground, fell out of several gaps, and rolled all the way along the deck. The tung oil spilled all over the deck. He Tianyang held a torch in his hand and threw it over like a windmill. When it fell on the deck, the tung oil started to burn.
When it started to burn, the tung oil suddenly ignited, and there was a sudden exclamation on the boat. He Tianyang laughed loudly: "Damn it, you are bullying the young boatman because you have more boats, I will burn your boat and let you all feed the bastards!"
At this moment, the pirate at the helm screamed: "Officers and soldiers, there are officers and soldiers!"
From a distance, the battleships of the Ming Dynasty came with great momentum. Both the pirate ships and the Japanese pirate ships spotted them, and the battle between the two sides immediately stopped.
The warships of the Ming Navy are much smaller than the ships of both sides, but when it comes to the equipment on the ships, they are not the same. Besides, there is a mortal enemy beside them. Of course, the Japanese pirates are worried that the Ming warships will attack them. The pirates
Bian was also worried about an indiscriminate attack from the officers and soldiers. The leaders of both sides hurriedly gave orders, tried hard to gather their ships, and watched vigilantly at the men and horses rushing out of the sky.