One characteristic of Qi Yu's character is that he will never give up until the last moment.
Whether it is a motto or an outlook on life, in short, he relied on this belief to pass the imperial examination and finally succeeded in becoming an official.
Recently, he also relied on this belief to resist the revenge from King Yong. To be more rigorous, it should be called the harassment of Japanese pirates disguised by King Yong's forces.
This is easy to judge.
The real Japanese pirates were good at using Fuso swords, but how could they be equipped with matchlocks and artillery?
From this, we can guess that King Yong not only found out about himself, but was also a little angry.
Could it be that someone leaked the news?
In fact, it is not the case. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that, among other things, where did the three artillery pieces standing proudly at the Qiongzhou Pier come from?
King Yong is not stupid, he can figure it out with his toes.
Then, revenge came.
It's a matter of time. You can't hide from the first grade of junior high, but you can't hide from the fifteenth grade. You will always have to pay back if you go out and mess around.
However, King Yong's side did not disclose their identity, but attacked under the guise of Japanese pirates. Qi Yu did not expose this lie, and carried out self-defense under the guise of resisting Japanese pirates.
In fact, they both understand each other tacitly.
Facing the invasion, all Qi Yu could do was resist. At worst, he could just give it a try and end up with a life-and-death outcome.
Never give up until the last moment.
Fortunately, the Westerner named Mahan turned out to be a master of artillery. Under his careful guidance, the 'Defending Force' actually directly knocked over two of the opponent's large ships, and the record was quite impressive.
Alas!
Mr. Qi is mighty!
The morale of the Qiongzhou defenders was greatly boosted, and they relied on their geographical advantages to resist stubbornly, displaying not only majesty but also momentum.
There is a saying in the classic "Zuo Zhuan": Fighting requires courage. One burst of energy will weaken again, and three times it will be exhausted. When someone is exhausted, I will be full, so I can overcome it.
Not to mention, this is actually the case.
King Yong's attacks ranged from strong to light. Except for the first time, which was quite sharp, the subsequent two attacks were basically weak. They didn't feel shocking, a bit like going through the motions.
Probably because he couldn't attack for a long time and lost his fighting spirit.
This offensive and defensive battle lasted for months, and today, under the leadership of the wise Lord Qi, we finally successfully resisted the invasion of the "Japanese pirates" for the fourth time.
As for the idea of Yingming, it was Peng Wenchang who first proposed it, and other core staff members also joined in.
They said: If Mr. Qi hadn't prepared the firearms to suppress the battle in advance, how could we resist the invasion of the thieves now?
Relying on one's own strength to develop military equipment to defeat the enemy?
Even if it’s too late!
It can be seen how foresight Master Qi is.
Just like what he said during the first mobilization, you have to survive first, and then you are qualified to consider development issues. If you can't even protect your old nest in Qiongzhou, how can you develop an egg?
The words are rough but the reason is not rough, that is indeed the truth.
By fighting these four tough battles, Qi Yu also unexpectedly discovered a small wave of potential talents. For example, the newly promoted Bingfang Jingcheng Fuxian was a very courageous person who made contributions in these self-defense battles.
Quite abundant.
Well, talents must be reused, and I, Qi Dalang, am eager for talents!
When it comes to talent, Qi Yu can't help but feel worried.
What is urgently needed now are the scholars needed by culture and education. How should these elites be solved?
Alas, there is no solution!
After collecting the troops, Qi Yu held a grand celebration banquet to reward those who had made meritorious service in the self-defense war.
The banquet was held in a wine shop newly taken over by the Shi brothers, but they didn't make much money from it.
Why do you say that?
You see, each table here has four side dishes and a pot of wine. Although it is known as a grand banquet, it doesn't cost much at all.
This time it was pretty good. Last time, the prefect brought his own drinks...
Open the banquet.
Peng Wenchang poured the wine first and said: "Sir Qi, the intensity of the 'Japanese pirates' harassment is getting worse with each wave. From the looks of it, it should be gone soon."
Qi Yu agreed: "I guess... almost! Since you haven't been able to eat me four times, you probably won't try again. Alas, it's a pity that our current strength is still insufficient and we can't effectively counterattack.
Otherwise, I will definitely take advantage of the victory to pursue them and annihilate them to get rid of the sullen feeling in my heart."
It is indeed a pity that we can only defend ourselves and cannot fight back. However, with our current strength, we are still unable to annihilate the enemy invisible.
The number of firearms is not enough, and there is not a single battleship. How can we only fight back with courage?
However, we cannot only increase the ambition of others and destroy our own prestige. From a large-scale perspective, Qi Yu is still very confident about future development, and is currently only lagging behind at one point.
In this regard, he confidently said: "As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning, but once you get this started, the road ahead will be much easier."
"For example, our cement test, although it took a long time, hasn't it been completed? After we have started this, the construction of our college, the construction of the research institute, etc. can all proceed as scheduled, right?
?”
"Your Excellency is wise!"
"Fuck!"
"Fuck!"
There are many ways to build this type of project. It is not easy to say it is easy, but it is not difficult to say it is difficult. As long as you have the money and materials in place, the speed at which the work can be started can be described as rapid.
After all, you still need money to support it.
In fact, in addition to these infrastructure constructions, there is also a major secret project that Qi Yu has not publicly mentioned: the improvement of matchlocks and the development of artillery.
This matter is an absolute secret and cannot be discussed with anyone other than close confidants. Even the court officials within the jurisdiction cannot let him notice any clues.
Why?
Let’s listen to the explanation:
As far as the system of this dynasty is concerned, there is a huge difference in armament between prefects and governors. The former has neither the right to dispatch local armies nor the ability to own private armies for garrison. Once it is considered to be privately armed, it will be punished with the crime of treason.
How to define?
There is no clear limit, so if you want to sail a ten thousand year ship, you have to be careful.
Meng Lanshan, his mentor, once told himself that if a tree is beautiful in the forest, the wind will destroy it, so why bother to show off the dew?
It’s better to keep a low profile!
At present, the research and development of firearms has indeed made good progress.
Let’s talk about firearms first. After Qi Yu proposed the concept of using flintlock guns to replace matchlock guns, the foreigner Ma Han studied hard day and night and finally made a breakthrough.
The first one to undergo the improvement test was Mr. Qi's own small gun. After it was implanted with flint for ignition, its firing efficiency was directly increased several times.
Then there is the matter of artillery. In order to raise the furnace temperature to produce good steel, Ding Liuzhi also built a small coal-burning furnace for Mahan for the casting of gun barrels. On weekdays, he can also make some projectiles.
to increase supplies.
However, due to the small scale of this furnace, only two small cannons for shipboard use have been produced so far. In terms of output, there is still room for improvement.
Even so, Qi Dalang was still very satisfied.
As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning, but it is not difficult once you have made a good start. It is only a matter of time before you develop and grow.
While I was having a happy drink, I suddenly saw Huang Fei arriving in a hurry.
It turned out that he was worried that Qi Yu was in danger while fending off the enemy, so he decisively abandoned Harry and rushed over. However, after seeing that everything was safe, he showed an awkward expression that he shouldn't worry about.
"Brother Huang, is Harry's behavior unusual recently?" Qi Yu asked straight to the point as soon as they met.
"He is very normal. He works as a supervisor in the mine every day and has not gone anywhere." Huang Fei replied.
"Well...then is he dissatisfied with the price I offered?" Qi Yu continued to ask.
"No, he accepted it readily."
Huh?
Something's wrong!
In the business world, people always ask for a high price and pay back the money on the spot. This trick has been used in ancient and modern times at home and abroad. Why doesn't Harry lower his own price?
At the very least, he has to express his dissatisfaction at being squeezed by himself, right?
When something goes wrong, there must be a monster!
Could it be that he is hiding his capabilities and biding his time? Or that he has other good plans?