Zhongzuo Institute, also known as Jiahe Island, Xiamen, is located on the outside of the Jiulong River Estuary, opposite to Haimen on the inside. Because it is the gateway to Zhangzhou and Quanfu, it has always been an important military garrison in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty. It is no exaggeration to say that
More than half of Fujian's coastal defense forces are gathered here, and its importance is evident from this. Now pirates are coming across the sea and wreaking havoc in southern Fujian. Yu Zigao, the chief military officer of Fujian, personally led two warships from the water mark and the north mark to come to the rescue.
At one time, the Zhongzuo Institute gathered most of Fujian's warships, with tens of thousands of people and hundreds of ships, and the military was extremely powerful.
Xu Xinsu lay flat on the rocking chair in her mansion, rocking gently, staring at the sky with slightly cloudy eyes, lost in thought. Once, his eyes were as sharp as a sea eagle, once, his ambition was as broad as the sea, once
, his body can swim in the sea for several hours without running out, no matter how reluctant he is, he must admit that he is old."
The second brother Ou Huayu passed away seven years ago, and unknowingly, it has been two years since the death of the eldest brother Li Dan. The third brother Zhang Jingquan lived in seclusion in Nagasaki, Japan for many years. He paid little attention to secular things and devoted himself to Buddhism. At that time, he married Jinlan.
The three brothers who started their careers ended their careers one after another. From this, Xu Xinsu deeply realized that their era was becoming history, and the future belonged to young people.
It is precisely because he knows that the future belongs to young people that Xu Xinsu still stands at the front and charges forward, instead of retreating behind the scenes and spending his old age. He wants to pave the way for future generations. His younger brother Xu Xinlan cannot hold up a wall, and it is harder to expect him than to reach the sky.
His favorite second son, the eldest son Letian, is in his thirties and is calm and steady. He only needs two or three more years of experience before he can safely hand over the family business to him. The second son, Xu Yilong, is not as stable as Letian, but he is born with seven orifices.
Linglong's heart, coupled with his status as a living member, is very popular in Zhangzhou City. In the future, with his remaining power, the eldest son Letian will be the master outside, and the second son Yilong will be the master inside, which will definitely bring the Xu family to a higher level.
The future planned by Xu Xinsu is now facing a severe challenge from Zheng Zhilong. If he fails, he will be in danger of death. How can he not be angry? Thinking of Zheng Zhilong, an undercooked wolf cub, Xu Xinsu would be furious. If it weren't for his elder brother
With Li Dan's appreciation, how could he, a homeless prodigal, achieve what he has today? Li Dan died unexpectedly of illness, and before his body was cold, this guy couldn't wait to devour all of Li Dan's belongings in Taiwan. He had never seen anything like this
Shameless eating! Of course, Xu Xinsu also took Li Dan's inheritance in Zhangquan as his own, but he thought it was what he deserved for decades. What qualifications does Zheng Zhilong, a butt seller, have to lend his hand?
Last winter, Li Dan's son Li Guozhu sent people across the ocean to look for him. He kept his profile very low and never mentioned the incident in Zhangquan. He only said that Zheng Zhilong was despicable and had deprived the Li family of Taiwan of their money. But he was there.
In Japan, not only did they not receive much of Li Dan's inheritance, but they were saddled with a lot of debt. People blocked the door every day to collect debts. Life was extremely difficult. I hope Xu Xinsu can help him out of Li Dan's sake.
Although the Sino-Japanese trade is highly profitable, the voyage is long and the risks are high, and it is far less convenient than the Sino-Dutch trade. Therefore, Xu Xinsu’s focus turned to Taiwan. He was not planning to engage in Sino-Japanese trade anymore. To be honest, there were not many places where Li Guozhu could be used in the future. Maybe.
Out of conscience, or perhaps because of old feelings, Xu Xinsu finally decided to lend Li Guozhu 3,000 taels of silver to help him tide over the difficulties. When the southwesterly wind comes in April or May this year, he will have a sea ship carry it to him. However, Zheng Zhilong is making such a fuss now.
The route will inevitably be affected. Is it necessary to lend this money to Li Guozhu again? Three thousand taels of silver is not a small sum of money.
Xu Xinsu thought about it for a long time, but could not make a decision. Gradually sleepiness came to her mind. She suddenly noticed someone gently shaking her while she was half asleep. Xu Xinsu slowly opened her sleepy eyes and saw her eldest son Letian standing by her side with her head bowed respectfully. She asked:
"What's up?"
Xu Letian replied: "Zhentai, please ask your father to come over to discuss matters."
"Taiwan?" Xu Xinsu heard that it was the request from Commander-in-Chief Yu Zigao, and she felt half asleep at once. She slowly sat up and said, "Do you know what it is?"
Xu Letian shook his head first, and then said cautiously: "In my opinion, it is probably about discussing the elimination of the Tongshan pirates."
Xu Xinsu nodded, said nothing, refreshed herself with a wet towel, and as soon as the sedan arrived, she immediately took her entourage and set off for the General Military Mansion. On the way, she met the sedans of Yang Lu and Yang Ce, that is, Yang Liu and Yang Qi brothers.
The two South Australian thieves, who have been traversing the South China Sea for many years, are stout and have sinister faces. They are not good-natured people at first glance. It feels indescribable to sit quietly in the official sedan at this time. It is not convenient to communicate on the road, so they exchanged a look with each other.
, arrived at the gate of the General Military Mansion, Yang Ce jumped off the sedan first and asked impatiently: "Brother Xu, do you think the General Military Officer is planning to attack Zheng Yiguan when he summons us this time?"
Xu Xinsu hugged her with both hands and said solemnly: "How can we guess Zhentai's intentions? Don't do stupid things that bother others."
"..." Xu Xinsu's explicit words made Yang Ce sick as if he had eaten a fly. After all, Xu Xinsu was a businessman, and his brother used to do business without capital. The two parties had never been on the same page.
"Brother Xu..."
"Mr. Xu..."
"Brother Xu..."
Although Xu Xinsu is only a false commander and has no real power, he holds the power of Taiwan's trade. Whether it is the governor's office or the general military office, he is a person who can speak well. In addition, he has never been stingy with gold and silver in his daily contacts with civil and military officials.
He was extremely generous, so as soon as he entered the house, no one came up to greet him. They were both commanders, but not many people paid attention to the Yang brothers. The treatment was very different.
Yang Ce's unruly eyes swept over the extremely hypocritical faces, and he cursed in a low voice: "A bunch of people who look at people with dog eyes! Bah!"
"Shut up!" Yang Lu yelled with all his strength. Due to their backgrounds in the world, his two brothers have never been trusted by the authorities. Now is the time to curb their sharp edges and establish a firm footing. They must not offend others easily.
, otherwise he would either return to the world and be hunted by both officials and thieves, or be sent to Shandong like Yuan Jin and Li Zhong to fight with the slaves on the other side. No matter which one, he didn't want.
Yang Ce is not an idiot, and naturally understands this truth, but he just can't help but complain when he sees everyone acting pretentious.
Chen Xifan, deputy commander of the south route, Qin Wencan, the water standard guerrilla, Jin Fulian, the Quannan guerrilla, Hong Yingdou, the left wing commander, Chen Jiayi, the right wing name and color commander, Chen Wanggao, the name and color commander of the northern standard, Lin Wenlang, the winning name and color commander, Mao Zongxian, the Tongshan commander, and the defense
Wen Zuoming and other military ministers arrived at the meeting hall one after another. Together with Xu Xinsu, Yang Lu, and Yang Ce, there were no less than 20 people in total. There were sea pirates like the Yang brothers who accepted the invitation, and there were also defeated people like Wen Zuoming and Mao Zongxian.
Those who are being punished include Hong Yingdou and other powerful generals who followed Yu Zigao to pacify Penghu. They are all kinds of good and bad, but it is undeniable that they hold the military power of Fujian Province in their hands.
Yu Zigao, who had white hair and beard, was dressed in military uniform. He was holding a golden sword on his horse. He said to the generals in a deep voice: "Since the pirates entered the country on February 22, the bandits have been rampant for more than a month and have occupied Tongshan.
, intercepting and killing soldiers and civilians, it is reported that they cannot be counted, which is unbearable! Now our soldiers are gathered in the center and left, and the hearts of the people can be used. And the pirates are newly defeated, how long will it take if we don't fight now? I want to collect copper
The mountains have lost their land, and the sea has become so fishy, what will happen to all of you?"
As the host and the second-in-command in the army, Chen Xifan, the deputy commander-in-chief of the South Road, reacted very quickly. He responded immediately: "The Yuanrong family passed down Tao strategy. The world is loyal and loyal, and the talented arsenal is our best general in the Ming Dynasty. A mere pirate clown, Zhang
Puxiao County can also be defeated, how can it be treated as Yuan Rong's attack?"
When Yu Zigao heard this, his face showed joy, he twirled his beard and smiled.
Xu Xinsu also said: "Fujian has suffered from severe drought for many years, and the land is bare for thousands of miles. The people are in dire straits. It has rained and dewed a few days ago, which is a good omen."
"Not bad." Yu Zigao nodded slightly to show his agreement.
Chen Xifan and Xu Xinsu spoke one after another, setting the tone. The generals immediately knew what to do, and swarmed up, trying their best to flatter Yu Zigao, praising Yu Zigao to the top of the world.
As time went by, Hong Yingdou's frown became higher and higher. I don't know since when, Yu Zigao changed. He was no longer the same Yu Zhen who led them to break through the whale waves thousands of miles away and explore the tiger's den on the solitary sail. He became
He doesn't like to listen to opinions and only likes to listen to flattery. If he despises his enemies and is arrogant, he will end up in an unsafe situation if he is not careful. Then Hong Yingdou smiled bitterly, maybe he thought too much, if he said that pirates were capable
He was the first to not believe that Yu Zigao and the officers and soldiers of the whole province of Fujian had been defeated. However, according to intelligence, the pirates were indeed dangerous to his own strength, and Yu Zigao should be more cautious in dealing with them.
Yu Zigao raised his hand to stop the generals and ordered: "Since you all agree, go back and prepare. In three days..."
"Report"
Yu Zigao's words were interrupted and he couldn't help being startled. He raised his eyes and looked out the door. Soon a man stepped through the door, knelt down and reported: "Qi reported to the town, Wuyu came to report, and the pirates took advantage of the wind to sail southward.
, only ten miles away from Wuyu Island, please make a decision at Zhentai."
There are many Wuyu Islands, one in Kinmen and one in Jinjiang. This Wuyu Island is the old Wuyu Island, which is located dozens of miles south of Zhongzuo. If Zhongzuo is the gateway to Zhang and Quan, then the old Wuyu Island is
It is the gateway to Zhongzuo. Wuyu used to be one of the five major water villages in Fujian. However, during the Jiajing period, Wuyu was "hanging alone overseas" and it was difficult to garrison and manage it. Therefore, it was moved to Xiamen. Wuyu was renamed the old Wuyu. During the Wanli period, it was renamed Jiuyu.
Moved to Quanzhou Jinjiang Shihu Village. The name Wuzhou Island in Kinmen is often confused with Wuyu Island. However, it has to be said that habits are difficult to change. When officers and soldiers usually talk about Wuyu Island, they mostly refer to the old Wuyu Island.
"..." Yu Zigao and all the generals in the hall were stunned when they heard this and were speechless for a long time. This matter was really hard to accept. In their view, if we didn't fight against the pirates, the other side should burn incense. Now,
It was delivered to your door automatically, which is simply a shame!
Yu Zigao asked with a livid face: "Did the front line report how many warships the thieves came?"
"The number is so large and boundless that it cannot hold more than two hundred ships."
Everyone was secretly surprised when they heard this. If there were no false reports from the front line, this number would be a bit astonishing. There were only about 200 government and military warships parked in Xiamen Port.
Yu Zigao snorted coldly, held the sword on his waist tightly with his right hand, and raised his voice: "Since the pirates are here to die in a hurry, why not do it? All generals, listen to my orders."
"exist!"
"Follow me to the sea and kill thieves."
"yes!"
The pirate fleet of more than 200 ships sailed to Wuyu Island with the south wind and sails. They covered the sky and the sun and were boundless. The color of everyone who saw it changed drastically. There were only single-digit ships on Wuyu Island. Facing an opponent that was difficult to resist, they were very desperate.
Wisely, they chose to retreat. The huge pirate fleet successfully crossed the Wuyu waters and soon arrived at Dadayu, the second important peripheral stronghold of the officers and soldiers.
Dadan Island is not the focus of pirates' attention, but the north is the place that attracts their attention. A fleet that is not inferior to the pirates in size, and may even be dominant, is slowly coming against the sea breeze. After all, it has gathered most of Fujian's maritime military power.
It is not surprising that the fleet has such strength. Unsurprisingly, the large sea area between Zhongzuo and Dadan Island will become the battlefield between the two sides.
Compared with the slightly sloppy pirate fleet, the official fleet's formation was more rigorous. Yu Zigao inherited his father Yu Dayou's naval warfare strategy. Instead of following the Ming Dynasty's traditional five ships and one outpost, he used eight ships per outpost created by Yu Dayou.
, each post is given a name, which may be heaven, earth, wind, cloud, dragon, tiger, bird, snake. Or Qing, Cheng, Ning, Jing... and the Chinese army has three posts. Each post has sixteen warships.
It is composed of waving the flag as the signal and beating the drum as the festival, repeating and advancing like an arm using the fingers.
"Yu Zigao is worthy of being the son of the famous general Yu Dayou. He really has a lot of skills." Even though the two sides were enemies, Huang Chen couldn't help but admire his opponent in his heart.
Huang Chen and his fleet were placed on the right by Zheng Zhilong. It was neither a head-to-head confrontation with the army like the center, nor like soy sauce on the outside like the two wings. It was neither good nor bad. He moved twenty of his troops
The two warships were organized into five teams. Except for the team led by themselves, which had six ships, the other four teams were all four ships. The leaders of the four teams were Zhao Hongyi, Chen Si, Ruan Jin, and Zhuang Mo. The first three were already Huang
Chen's top three generals, but Zhuang Mo was recently promoted. He is far from being able to convince the public.
Huang Chen's move was a last resort. Although Liu Bin, the former general under Wang Fengwu, was unruly, he was a rare warrior. Unfortunately, he died unexpectedly in Zhangpu. Huang Chen spent a lot of time on his vacant position.
After much thought, Yang Dong could not leave as his deputy, Zhang Xing was capable and talented but too young, and the rest, Guo Dayan, Huang Fang, Hong Ju, etc., were not qualified for the time being. In desperation, Huang Chen had to promote Zhuang Mo. Later
Although he is not good at sea warfare, he is brave and brave, and he can reach a distance like Liu Bin. With the help of local birds like Hong Ju, even if no results can be achieved, there will be no big problems.
After this incident, Huang Chen found that his power had expanded rapidly, with more and more people under his command, but fewer and fewer people who could use him.
"Talents! Where are you hiding?!" Huang Chen sighed like this more than once in the past few days.
The sudden sound of drums interrupted Huang Chen's thoughts and brought his attention back to the battlefield.
"Woooooooo..."
"Dong dong dong..."
"kill!"
As the two sides got closer and closer, inspired by the fierce sound of conch shells and the sound of war drums, an earth-shattering cry of killing rang out in the blue and vast sea. It could be heard in Zhongzuo, the Kinmen Islands, and even the coasts of Zhangzhou and Quanfu.
, the officials and the people climbed up to look fearfully, and saw big ships filling the sea, fighting in the sky, and the ocean water boiling, and they were all frightened and inexplicable.
Because the Fujian officers and soldiers came against the wind, they did not hang sails and rowed at a slow speed. The pirate fleet used the power of the wind to overwhelm them with an overwhelming force. Only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win a hundred battles. The pirates know very well that their side can fight openly and honestly*
* They are not opponents of the official army, so they take advantage of every opportunity at the first opportunity, rush into the enemy group, cause chaos and form a melee. Only in this way can they fish in troubled waters and take advantage of the strong individual advantages of pirates.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
As soon as the two sides got close, the cannon barrels that had been preparing for a long time fired almost simultaneously. Hundreds of cannons roared to the opposite side with shrill howls. In an instant, wood chips flew everywhere, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and the sea water boiled.
After more than ten rounds of fierce artillery battles, Huang Chen put down his copper monocular telescope and raised his eyebrows slightly. In the past few years, Fujian was deeply harassed by the red-haired Dutch. Yu Zigao began to imitate the red cannons to defend the Western barbarians.
The accumulated strength is no small feat, it far exceeds that of the pirate coalition, but the two sides have been fighting for so long, and Huang Chen has yet to see any trace of the official red barbarian cannon.
"It seems that the rumors are indeed true." Huang Chen slowly shook his head.
Maybe the Hongyi cannon needs a strong ship to carry it, and the construction cost of a large ship is easily seven hundred or eight hundred taels, thousands of taels of silver, or even thousands of taels. Or maybe the Ming Empire has no equal opponents around it, and its strategy is too conservative and relies on land.
The offshore self-defense and counterattack navy seldom goes deep into the sea to fight. There may be other reasons. In short, in short, the Fujian government would rather build gun cities along the coast that can only be passively defended and place Hongyi cannons.
Take it aboard the battleship.
Huang Chen may not find it strange that others do this, but he cannot understand what Yu Zigao does. You must know that Yu Dayou, the father of Yu Zigao, once wrote in his writings: "There is no other way to fight on the sea, but big ships can defeat small ships, and big guns can win."
"Small guns, many ships are better than few ships, and many guns are better than few guns." He can be called a staunch believer in big ships and big guns. What Yu Zigao did was obviously contrary to his father's military thinking.
The father of a tiger and the son of a dog? This is obviously wrong. Yu Zigao was in his late teens and spent his whole life in the military. His achievements at sea were few and far between.
"Maybe it's because he is old and has no ambition."
Huang Chen was not the roundworm in Yu Zigao's belly. He didn't understand the reason and reluctantly found a reasonable reason for the other party.
Soon after, Huang Chen raised his binoculars again and vaguely took a look at the surrounding battle situation in the vast white smoke. As expected, Zhuang Mo performed quite well. The same was true for Chen Si, whose talent was limited to one ship.
, asking him to command four warships is obviously a bit difficult. The reason why he has climbed to his current position is not because of his outstanding talents, but because of his seniority and age, that's all. Zhao Hongyi has outstanding talents, but his strength lies in training troops.
, running the army and fighting wars, Huang Chen believes that land is the most suitable place for him to perform, and letting him fight at sea is a bit overkill.
Ruan Jin undoubtedly satisfied Huang Chen the most. He led four ships under his command across the battlefield, rode on waves and plowed boats, raised cannons to crush the enemy, and threw fire to the boats without any problems. It is no exaggeration to say that this is a man who has the ability to change the situation.
Man, with this one person, Huang Chen's strength increased by 20 to 30% out of thin air. Who makes a living on the sea but has a pair of sharp eyes like a sea eagle? Recently, some people have avoided Huang Chen and contacted Ruan Jin privately, trying to poach him.
Fortunately, Ruan Jin was very sentimental, and Huang Chen took him in as a bereaved dog and rehabilitated him with kindness. Moreover, Huang Chen valued his talents very much and had always trusted him, so he remained unmoved despite all the lobbyists talking.
Ruan Jin is so loyal to him, Huang Chen is happy but also slightly worried. Loyalty now does not mean loyalty forever. When one day Ruan Jin becomes the master, will he still be willing to succumb to him? From this, Huang Chen once again laments the lack of support around him.
Talents, especially talents like Ruan Jin.
The red sun gradually tilted from the top of the sky to the west. This great sea battle, which attracted the attention of the entire Ming Empire and was so large that it could be recorded in the annals of history, had lasted for more than two hours. It had become more and more tragic, with more than a thousand dead.
.
The officers and soldiers relied on their leisure time and their own strong strength to regain their disadvantage bit by bit and gradually took control of the battlefield. Huang Chen was not worried about this, not only him, but also the leaders of the pirates. This battle was not
They must meet with each other and decide whether they are alive or dead, otherwise the leaders would not agree to Zheng Zhilong's plan to invade the center and left.
"Woooooooo..."
Just when Huang Chen raised his head to look at the direction of the sun, the rapid sound of conch shells spread in all directions on the battlefield, which was a signal for the pirates to retreat. Huang Chen slightly raised his sword eyebrows upon hearing the news. Zheng Zhilong's movements were faster than he expected. It seemed that
He didn't want to waste time with the opponent anymore. After all, the outcome of this naval battle was already determined before the war started.
Since the pirate leaders knew the whole story beforehand, upon hearing the sound of the conch, they immediately ordered their ships to break away from the battle and retreat south. Of course, there were also those who were trapped in a tight siege and those with red eyes who were unwilling to evacuate, but this did not include Huang Chen.
, and soon he led his fleet out of the battlefield and flew away.
Yu Zigao stood on the pewter, holding a sword in his hand. After an exhausting battle, his originally dazzling eyes dimmed a bit, but they were still sharp and focused on the escaping pirate fleet.
"Victory!" Yu Zigao had a calm expression on his face, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. This victory was extremely difficult, far beyond his expectation. He thought that having assembled most of Fujian's maritime forces, he could easily defeat this group of mobs.
, Facts have proved that he overestimated himself and underestimated his opponent. In any case, he was victorious. Even if the enemy did not suffer serious damage, a victory was a victory.
A sentry officer strode over, clasped his fists and said, "At the command center, the deputy commander of the Rong army asked if we should capture the enemy?" The commander-in-chief Yu Zigao was Yuan Rong, and the deputy commander-in-chief naturally meant Chen Xifan, the deputy commander-in-chief.
Yu Zigao frowned in thought. The pirates had not been seriously injured and still had the strength to counterattack. It would be inappropriate to chase them out rashly. Moreover, compared to the army, pirates were more adapted to deep ocean operations. After a big battle, both men and ships would be exhausted.
, there is a shortage of lead medicine, it is not suitable to fight anymore. Thinking of this, Yu Zigao shook his head and said: "It's just a lost dog, don't pay attention to it. Send my general's order to encircle and suppress the remaining pirates, and then withdraw the troops."