During the Little Ice Age, February in Fujian was still very cold. At this time, both pirates and soldiers generally stayed in their dens and did not go out.
Yan Yingyuan, the general of the Fujian Navy, was not in his mansion, but went to Shuiying for inspection.
At this time, he not only knew that he had a nephew, but also knew that his former boss, Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Denglai, and his brother-in-law, had captured the puppet capital of Jianlu.
While Yan Yingyuan was envious, he secretly worked hard, otherwise it was hard to say whether he would come to Shuiying to patrol in such a cold weather.
But not long after his inspection, Fujian Governor Xiong Wencan sent someone to look for him. He vaguely knew what was going on, because his brother-in-law's letter mentioned something, and it was almost time.
When Yan Yingyuan arrived at the Governor's Mansion and was introduced to the Houya, he found that the coastal defense guerrilla Zheng Zhilong was already there.
"See Zhongcheng." Yan Yingyuan saluted Xiong Wencan who was sitting at the top.
"Liheng, you don't need to be polite, I'll sit next to you." Xiong Wencan's attitude was very good. Not only did he arrange to discuss things in the back office, he was also very polite.
Of course Yan Yingyuan knew that this was because of his brother-in-law, but he was not unscrupulous because of this. He still obeyed the rules and sat down in his seat after completing the ceremony.
"Today I received an imperial edict, saying that a fleet of naval camps has been formed in the north, and one of you two has been asked to accept it and go to Jiaozhi to escort the grain ship back to Beijing." Xiong Wencan saw the two of them sitting down and spoke.
said.
When Yan Yingyuan heard this, he realized that it was indeed something his brother-in-law had told him. He immediately turned to look at his subordinate Zheng Zhilong, and saw that his expression was normal, so he knew that he probably knew about this matter.
After Xiong Wencan finished speaking, he did not look at Zheng Zhilong, but stared at Yan Yingyuan and said: "I called you here because I want to know your current situation and who can complete this job."
"Zhongcheng, the general has detected that a large number of pirates are gathering, and is preparing to go to sea to suppress the bandits. Although the general wants to accept the order, he is afraid that the pirates will cause trouble." Zheng Zhilong waited for Xiong Wencan to finish speaking, and then answered first.
There is indeed a mission to suppress bandits, and Yan Yingyuan also knows this. After arriving in Fujian, he followed Zheng Zhilong to the sea several times and wiped out several pirates.
Xiong Wencan immediately nodded and said: "Suppressing bandits is very important, I still know this."
After finishing speaking, he turned to Yan Yingyuan and asked, "What about you, Liheng?"
"The general has nothing to do for the time being. He is planning to accompany Zheng Youyi to suppress the bandits." Yan Yingyuan answered to Xiong Wencan with his fists clasped.
Xiong Wencan shook his head after hearing this and said: "No need, no need. It's enough for a mere pirate to become famous. Li Heng's going would be making a fuss out of a molehill. Besides, this imperial edict strictly requires that one of you two must go and accept the water camp."
Go to protect food."
He said that he already understood what he meant. You, Yan Yingyuan, just go and do this work.
According to ordinary people, if this kind of thing is a good thing, the high-level people will rush to do it, and there will be nothing for the low-level people; if it is not a good thing, then the high-level people will directly leave the task to the low-level people.
, it’s just a matter of one sentence.
But the current situation in the Fujian navy is different. It stands to reason that after receiving this imperial edict, the Fujian governor would just order whoever he wants to go. But these two people under him are not fuel-efficient lamps. Zheng Zhilong is his food and clothing parent.
And Yan Yingyuan's background is tough.
Therefore, Xiong Wencan summoned the two of them and discussed it carefully. Of course, he was partial to Zheng Zhilong, so he had already discussed it with Zheng Zhilong before sending Yan Yingyuan over.
Zheng Zhilong was a great pirate, and his experience was not comparable to that of ordinary people. He had long been accustomed to seeing Western artillery and fast ships. Therefore, he was not surprised that the imperial court allocated this water camp.
However, he was still shocked when he heard that the north had started building ships on a large scale. He thought that the imperial court was serious about building ships, and the warships they started building were imitations of Western sailing ships. But it turned out that these old-fashioned ships could only cope with ordinary pirates.
.
Zheng Zhilong's own fleet not only had imitations of Western ships, but also large ships purchased directly from Westerners, including the artillery used in the fleet, which were also purchased directly from Westerners.
In this context, how could Zheng Zhilong give up his Fujian base and go to Jiaozhi just to covet four Fu ships, two Haicang ships and four Cangshan ships? You know, many of his sworn pirate brothers back then were thinking
How to kill him.
Moreover, the artillery of so many ships combined is not as many as the number of artillery of his two big ships. More importantly, the large-caliber artillery on the largest ship, that is, the big gun, will burst if fired directly on the ship.
The ship cannot actually fire. It needs to be hoisted to a raft towed by the stern to fire. In other words, this kind of big gun is basically a decoration.
Yan Yingyuan understood what Xiong Wencan meant. He just frowned and asked, "Zhongcheng, are all the sailors in this water camp fully equipped?"
Xiong Wencan was stunned for a moment and then understood. Yan Yingyuan must have received instructions from his brother-in-law and knew that there were only ships and no sailors in the water camp. So even though he didn't let him read the imperial edict, he was able to say this.
.
He knew it was useless to deny it, so he simply shook his head and said: "There are no sailors."
Yan Yingyuan was waiting for this sentence, and he immediately replied: "Zhongcheng, we are going to Jiaozhi, and then escort the grain ship to the capital, which is thousands of miles away. And the sea is not peaceful, and it is not suitable for all the sailors, and if they are skilled sailors,
I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete the mission. In my opinion, it would be better for the experienced Zheng Guerji to go on this mission."
Zheng Zhilong cursed secretly after hearing this, if he could go, it would be your turn to say it. He knew what Yan Yingyuan really meant when he said this, so Zheng Zhilong immediately interjected: "It doesn't matter if there are no sailors, General Yan Shen can do his best
Just take it from the Navy."
Yan Yingyuan wanted Zheng Zhilong to say this, because the Fujian Navy was Zheng Zhilong's private army. If Zheng Zhilong didn't agree, I'm afraid the sailors he selected would want to go with him, and they would have to consider the consequences of offending Zheng Zhilong.
"Okay, in that case, I will go back to select sailors right away." Yan Yingyuan looked at Zheng Zhilong and said with a smile.
Then he turned back and looked at Xiong Wencan, asking for his opinion: "Zhongcheng, do you think this is okay?"
Xiong Wencan had discussed with Zheng Zhilong earlier and knew that this was the worst case scenario and it was within their tolerance. So he nodded and said, "Okay, then it's Liheng's fault."
Yan Yingyuan has less than half a year, and it is estimated that he will not be able to return to the Fujian Navy again. This makes Xiong Wencan and Zheng Zhilong very willing to see this result.
After all, Yan Yingyuan is an outsider. Although he doesn't interfere with Zheng Zhilong's secret smuggling, he still cares a little, so it would be best if he doesn't.
So, after getting the consent of Xiong Wencan and Zheng Zhilong, Yan Yingyuan immediately returned to the camp, picked out some skilled and reliable sailors whom he had already been optimistic about, and went to Nanjing to accept the water camp.