This assassination was somewhat anticlimactic. Yin Feng was only injured in his arm, and 15 of his guards were killed or injured.
However, the problem is that in broad daylight, more than fifty people publicly assassinated a wealthy and popular gentleman, and until the end, all Yin Feng's men retreated from the city. In the time of a full meal, one official
They didn't show up either. The soldiers guarding the city gate disappeared after the assassination began, and all the guards at the top of the city disappeared. The Quanzhou prefect's Yamen was only two miles away from the south gate, but more than fifty corpses lay on the street for more than half a mile.
At that time, not a single official showed up.
Yin Feng has a natural advantage in grasping the overall trend. Because he is a reporter, he is also very sensitive to changes in the surrounding environment. After the assassination, he immediately noticed that the atmosphere in Quanzhou City was strange, so he left the city as soon as he had a chance to escape.
Sure enough, just when the people in Quanzhou were in a state of panic, a team of more than 3,000 officers and soldiers came from the direction of the center and left, almost fighting with Yin Feng and others. At the same time, the Fujian General Army's subordinates
The Biao Battalion also sent more than 1,000 people from Fuzhou to Quanzhou. Yin Feng and others watched the officers and soldiers entering the city from a distance, and their hearts became heavier: behind the scenes of this assassination, there must be secrets within the Fujian government.
Yin Feng and others were escorted by 60 plainclothes guards to Haicheng County. Xu Xinsu, Mai Xiaoliu and others also joined Yin Feng one after another. Yin Feng released two homing pigeons on the road to spread the news of his assassination.
Passed to the escort navy and company headquarters.
…
The official name of Taiwan's Jinggang has been changed back to Jingang; the two ports of Jilong Tamsui in the far north will become Taipei Port. Ye Hua, the captain of the navy battleship Feilong, is training new crew members, and Mai Dahai leads the men to rush to the ground.
The ship, loudly ordered: "All new crew members will disembark immediately, and the entire crew of the Feilong will take their positions to carry out the emergency sailing mission!"
Ye Hua was puzzled, but he remained silent until Mai Dahai handed him a note. Danmin sailors have generally participated in literacy classes in the past two years, and most of them already have a certain reading ability. Ye Hua took a look at it.
A little dazed: "The captain of the ship was assassinated?"
"The matter is urgent. We will set sail immediately to pick up the owner of the ship! I will stay at the old camp and wait for you." Mai Dayan said briefly and comprehensively, and immediately took the people off the ship. Ye Hua used the Feilong as his flagship and sailed out with 30 two-masted warships.
Depart from Yingang towards the mainland.
Yin Feng once stipulated the patrol range of the navy. The Taiwan Strait is bounded from east to west by Penghu Bay, and development to the west is not allowed. Especially for the new model of Feilong, in order to prevent irritating the Ming Navy, it usually
They are strictly prohibited from approaching the coast of Fujian. In addition to chasing pirates, ordinary Chinese company warships will not approach the coast of Fujian, so this leads to a strange situation: the "Thirteen Families" of pirates established by Yuan Jin and Li Zhongxin
Once the gang encounters the warships of the Chinese Company, they will escape to the coast of Fujian and hide in the patrol area of the navy. The warships of the Chinese Company usually give up the pursuit at this time. Sometimes the people of the Chinese Company really can't figure out who is who.
They are pirates and they are officers and soldiers, so they have to give up.
This time, the Feilong broke all taboos and sailed straight towards Shen Yourong's Wuyu Water Village, preparing to enter Xiamen Bay, and then go south to Haicheng to pick up Yin Feng. This sea route is the fastest, and you may encounter Yuan Jin along the way.
The pirate ship Feilong has undergone a new transformation this year, adding four 10-pound guns on each side of the upper deck, bringing the total gun load of the warship to 40 guns. The entire ship is painted blue from beginning to end.
It openly displayed Yin Feng's Yin-character banner; because this is Yin Feng's flagship.
At the same time, Zeng Jingshan, who had received the letter from Yin Feng Feige, convened an emergency meeting of all board members in Taiwan. Everyone was frightened by the news of Yin Feng's assassination, and each responded more radically than the last.
"Master, please activate the captain's contingency plan immediately! Mobilize all the villagers, garrison troops, and escort infantry!" Lu Shitou jumped up and waved his hands and said: "My villagers in the Tuntian Manor train every day and have nothing to do.
!”
Huang Qiang, the new major shareholder who joined the board of directors, said cautiously: "Now merchant ships are returning to port one after another and are still unloading..."
Li Yue stood up and said anxiously: "Boss Huang, time is pressing. I suggest that all factories, except the firearms factory and cannon factory, should not stop work. All craftsmen brothers should go to the port to help unload the goods, so that the ships can be emptied to transport troops as soon as possible!"
Zeng Jingshan frowned: "Not all the naval escort ships have returned!"
Lu Shitou took a few steps closer and said anxiously: "No matter how many boats come back, except for the boats in Jilongshui in the north, they must be guarded against Japanese pirates and cannot be moved. All the other boats are gathered together, and the infantry escorts get on the boats and go directly to Haicheng County to capture the enemy."
people."
Lin Xiao knocked on the door at this time and said with a pale face: "Gentlemen, shopkeepers, there is news from Fei Ge from the Huaxing Co., Ltd. in Haicheng Port. The ship owner has arrived at Haicheng Port and is at the home of wealthy businessman Luo Xuri. There is a shop.
Some people came to make trouble, but they were beaten away by the ship owner’s guards.”
"Fighting!?" Huang Qiang was speechless. Zeng Jingshan, who had been doing business in various places in his early years, was no stranger to "fighting". The so-called "fighting" probably refers to the early underworld organizations. "Fighting" began in the mid-Ming Dynasty
It is common in Suzhou, Songjiang and other places. Among them, the members of Suzhou gangsters are mainly evil young people and bad people in the market. These social scum form groups and often gather dozens of people to bully the weak and oppress the few, criticize and plunder, and are unstoppable.
It caused great public indignation. Among them, the most scoundrels, even if they occasionally had quarrels with others, would conspire to set fire to harm others. "Racking" also existed in Guangdong and Jiangxi, and its cruelty and ferocity could be compared with that of Suzhou. And in Fujian
There are only some in prosperous cities such as Fuzhou and Quanzhou. He frowned and said: "The people who work in the business are paid to work. The people who make money actually let them go to Haicheng to work. The person behind this must be something serious."
!”
The opinions put forward by everyone became more radical than the last, and finally the China United Company issued the first general mobilization order.
The current guard system is already very complete; the infantry team, as a full-time regular army, only trains every day; the garrison team is equivalent to the internal affairs force, stationed at ports, fortresses, transportation hubs, and villagers in various farms and manors.
It is the most basic non-retired militia reserve.
Except for the 1,000 sailors in the Navy who are standing warship sailors, the rest have to go out to participate in escort and merchant ship work. They are often rotated between ships, and the best ones are selected to join the warships.
As soon as the general mobilization order was issued, all the troops except the Jilong Tamsui garrison and the warships in the north of Taiwan Island were concentrated towards Taiwan Port.
Except for the Feilong, which departed early, more than 300 merchant ships and more than 50 escort warships have gathered in the port in a short period of time. The massive amount of silver and other items obtained from this year's overseas trade was quickly transferred to the dock; because there was no time to move it into the warehouse,
Some silver, Japanese silver and various gold and silver jewelry were piled in the open on the beach, and guards were sent to guard them with guns.
Countless treasures were piled on the beach gleaming in the night. This spectacle dumbfounded Baradas and You Wenhui. You Wenhui even drew many sketches and then created an oil painting.
"Night of Mobilization" has become a witness to history. This is a story for another time.
Within three days, all the armed forces of the China United Company who received the order were assembled at the port; among them, 2,000 infantry, 20 large and small artillery vehicles, 1,600 flintlock muskets, and 200 matchlock guns; the mobilized Zhuang Ding and others
The auxiliary force is more than 2,000 people.
The naval force consisted of 3,000 men, including 5 three-masted warships, each with three cannons, and 50 two-masted warships, each carrying one cannon.
The merchant ships were converted into transport ships, with a total of more than 300 ships, fully loaded with all the infantry who came to gather, plus all the weapons and ammunition, food and various supplies they carried. At this time, the clerks and accountants trained by the company in the past two years started to
It was very helpful. With their numerical calculations and strict planning, it only took two days for everyone and everything to get on the boat and set off for Haicheng. The commander-in-chief of the operation was Zeng Jingshan, and his deputy was Lin, the manager of the company's security department.
Xiao. According to Lin Xiao's words, when going to pick up Yin Feng this time, if the pirates block the way, they will kill the pirates, and if the officers and soldiers block the way, they will kill the officers and soldiers. In short, if the Buddha blocks the way, the Buddha will be killed, and if the gods block the way, the gods will be killed.
By the time the main force set off, the pioneer Ye Hua fleet had already entered Xiamen Bay.
At that time, Zhangzhou Haicheng (Yuegang) was the only legal port opened by the Ming Dynasty government for maritime merchants to go abroad for east-west trade. From the mouth of Zhangzhou River (Jiulong River) to the mouth of Anhai River (Shijing River), Xiamen and Kinmen Island
The surrounding waters, namely the Dazaomen Bay in a broad sense, although administratively divided into Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, are actually a whole in terms of the operation of the East-West trade system and belong to the Zhangzhou Port Area. Maritime merchants engaged in East-West trade
, you must hold a ship's license (i.e., certificate of registration) issued by Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, go to Yuegang to apply for a ship's license (that is, a ship's pass) from the Governor's Rate Office, pay the import tax, and then drive the ship from Yuegang or Anhai Port to
The Zhongzuo Institute (Xiamen) inspected goods and launched overseas voyages from Wuyu Island. The Chinese maritime merchants active on the east-west shipping routes were actually composed of Zhangquan maritime merchants in Mansion Bay as the main body and absorbed scattered merchants along the coasts of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong.
marine social groups.
Before this, the armed maritime forces of the China United Company had never entered here in order to avoid suspicion. Of course, the company's merchant ships would frequently come and go here, so the guide of Ye Hua's fleet was Uncle Yan, an old needle master who was familiar with the sea routes in Mansion Bay.
Feilong brought 30 two-masted warships and broke into the core defense area of Wuyu Water Village without hesitation. Shen Yourong was rolling and crawling on the ground when someone called him up all night. At this time, the sky was dim, and there was still light on the sea.
It was completely dark, but it did not prevent Shen Yourong from observing the Chinese company's warships. Because the Feilong, along with all the warships, unscrupulously hung wind lanterns on the mast, strings of lanterns illuminated the hull, and the dense lights shone in the darkness.
Moving on the sea, it is simply a boundless sea of lights.
Shen Yourong didn't know that the assassination of Yin Feng had taken place in Quanzhou City two days ago, and he was stunned by the actions of the Zhonghua Company. "This, this, is Yin Feng crazy? Entering the offshore with such a big fanfare is putting the imperial court in the face.
Where?" he murmured.
His lieutenant said cautiously: "General, do you want to send out warships to intercept?"
Shen Yourong pointed the torch in his hand at the sea and said coldly: "Look at the ship in front. Just by looking at its shape, you can tell that it is the legendary giant ship Fei Long. We have 50 ships in the water village, so it's not necessarily It can take it, not to mention it has those warships behind it that can help."
He turned back to the lieutenant and said: "Everyone is on guard, the sailors are on board, and the soldiers are ready to fight. Remember, don't take the initiative to provoke!"
The deputy general grinned bitterly; don't take the initiative to provoke others? Haha, who is provoking whom? He agreed and was about to walk away when he suddenly heard Shen Yourong say: "Wait a minute! ... They are not targeting us!"
"What!"
I saw the sea of lights a mile away moving slowly southward, completely ignoring the officers and soldiers of Wuyu Water Village near me.
What exactly is going on?
When the sky got light, the warships of the China United Company had already gone away. The officers and soldiers of Wuyu Water Village felt humiliated; the other party did not take them seriously at all. Shen Yourong sent a few soldiers to the Zhongzuo Station, Quanzhou and Fuzhou inquired about the news. As a result, at noon, the soldiers who went to Zhongzuo Station returned from crossing the sea and told Shen Yourong about the assassination of Yin Feng at the south gate of Quanzhou City.
"...I heard that after the assassination, General Zhu's Biao Battalion also entered Quanzhou City, and in the name of looking for the assassin, they raided the Huaxing branch in Quanzhou..."
Shen Yourong slammed the table; "It must be the eunuch!" He stood up and cursed angrily: "Damn! Mr. Zhu is helping the tyrants! This is forcing people to rebel! Today's Fujian, directly There are more than hundreds of thousands of people who indirectly rely on Chinese companies to make a living, how can these people act like this!"