In a pavilion in Quanzhou Port, a tall and burly general stood in the pavilion with a sword on his waist. He wore an eagle helmet and fish scale armor, looking at the densely packed warships in the harbor with a determined expression.
This general was Zhou Fei who followed Cai Yong to Quanzhou. He protected Cai Yong all the way. When he arrived in Quanzhou, Cai Yong had already placed great trust in him. Cai Yong was actually Yao Guangping's son-in-law and Yao Shun's brother-in-law. He tried his best to bring Zhou Fei to Quanzhou.
Recommended to Yao Shun.
Zhou Fei's outstanding appearance and outstanding martial arts quickly won the appreciation of Yao Shun, who promoted him to General Zhonglang, commanding an army of 2,000 men and responsible for maintaining the security of the port.
Zhou Fei himself also found it a bit funny. If the lord gave him an order to burn down the warship, he felt that he could easily complete this task. But the lord wanted the warship to be intact, which was beyond his ability. Moreover,
His mission this time is Quanzhou City and has nothing to do with warships.
"General!" Someone shouted Zhou Fei in the distance.
Zhou Fei turned around and saw a dark-skinned young man running towards him. This man's name was Yang Qing. He was a clerk and was responsible for clerical affairs in Zhou Fei's army. He was a native of Quanzhou and had gone to Chang'an to take part in the imperial examination two years ago.
, was admitted to the Imperial College, but unfortunately his father died of illness and he had to return to his hometown to honor his father.
In order to support his mother and several younger siblings, he took the written examination for the Quanzhou Army's recruitment documents last year and was admitted. Because he had no personal connections, he had been working in the Bingcao Division. It happened that Zhou Fei was appointed as Zhonglang General and his subordinates needed clerks, so Yang Qing was able to
Transferred to Zhou Fei's staff.
The young man is very diligent and conscientious in his work. Zhou Fei likes him quite a lot and is willing to recruit him. But now is not the time. Zhou Fei is not an emotional person. He has a heavy responsibility and does not dare to take it lightly.
"What's going on?" Zhou Fei stepped forward and asked.
"General, the strategic envoy sent someone to the camp to summon you!"
The economic envoy is Yao Shun. His father Yao Guangping was named the Commander-in-Chief of Quanzhou Navy and the economic envoy of Changle. Now Yao Shun has inherited his father's official position. Although it has not been recognized by the court, Yao Shun has decided to form an alliance with Zhu Si, and the court has accepted it.
It doesn't matter if you don't admit it.
The Jinglue Mansion is located in Quanzhou City. It is a royal palace covering an area of nearly 100 acres. There are many institutions in it, such as Changshi, Biejia, Sima, Judge, Recorder, Join the Army, Join the Army, Chief Secretary, etc., forming a complete power system.
This power system currently controls Quanzhou, Jianzhou, Fuzhou, Tingzhou and Zhangzhou, forming an independent vassal town.
Yao Shun is the second son of Yao Guangping. He is about thirty years old. Influenced by his father, he is not tall. Yao Guangping's six sons are recognized as mediocre people, but some of his sons-in-law are more outstanding, like Chang Shi Zhang Lan.
Sima Caiyong was Yao Guangping's eldest son-in-law and second son-in-law. They were also representatives of two major aristocratic families in Quanzhou. After Yao Guangping was assassinated, several sons wanted to compete for the throne, but Yao Shun got the support of Zhang Lan and Cai Yong and succeeded.
ascend the throne.
The eldest was Yao Xing, the governor of Jianzhou, the fourth was Yao Ding, the governor of Fuzhou, the fifth was Yao Huang, the governor of Tingzhou, and the sixth was Yao Jian, the governor of Zhangzhou. Under the pressure of several wealthy families, they were forced to hand over their troops to Yao Shun.
, serving only as a civilian governor, Yao Shun only left 500 soldiers in the four states to maintain public order. The remaining 18,000 troops were concentrated in Quanzhou. He commanded 10,000 troops himself, and the navy army was handed over to his third brother Yao He.
.
The third child, Yao He, has a close relationship with Yao Shun. He has always supported Yao Shun and won Yao Shun's trust.
Starting from Yao Guangping, the Yao family and his sons were all thinking about how to develop the overseas Liuqiu Island. Their ideas were supported by the big families in various states. Like the Yao family, several big families coveted the vast land on the other side of the strait.
, they hit it off with Yao Guangping on the idea of developing Liuqiu.
As early as five years ago, Yao Guangping built a military city on Guilong Island, also known as Penghu Island. Later, he gradually relocated the population and upgraded the military city to a county seat. However, the development process was not smooth. The main reason was insufficient population. Yao Guangping
It took five years to move 2,000 households to Penghu County, but by last autumn, only about 400 households were left in Penghu County.
The people in Quanzhou are unwilling to go to the other side. They live and work in peace and contentment on the mainland. Who wants to leave their hometown to open up wasteland on the island? They might have conflicts with the local indigenous people and die in a foreign land. Therefore, Yao Guangping tried his best to move to Penghu County.
Came back one after another.
But there are always opportunities. When Yao Shun formed an alliance with Zhu Si at the end of last year, he got an opportunity. Zhu Si promised to give them the population, money and food of Dengzhou and Laizhou as a reward for sending troops. This made Yao Shun and several big families
Everyone was very excited.
If tens of thousands of people can be transported from Dengzhou and Laizhou, several counties can be quickly established on Liuqiu Island, and the northern part of Liuqiu Island, which has a vast plain and a small indigenous population, can be developed in a very short time.
It was precisely the desire for population that made Yao Shun and the aristocratic families behind him unanimously agree to send troops to assist Zhu Si in the battle.
In the meeting hall, five people including Yao Shun, Yao He, Zhang Lan, Cai Yong, and Luo Xingwen were discussing the details of sending troops.
Just yesterday, Yao Shun received a pigeon letter from Lin Yaozu from Luoyang. Lin Yaozu relayed Zhu Si's request in the letter. The number of troops sent should not exceed 10,000, and the warships of more than 3,000 stone should not be less than 300. The requirements
The warship docked in Haizhou, picked up 20,000 Zhu Si troops on board, and then headed to Dengzhou.
The time for dispatching troops is January 25th, and they must arrive in Haizhou before the fifth day of February. In return for transporting troops, Zhu Si will provide them with 50,000 shi of military rations in Haizhou.
"Our own naval force only has 8,000 men. We cannot send more than 10,000 troops. However, we can send 300 warships with more than 3,000 stones. What do you think?" Yao Shun asked everyone.
"We have thousands of large and small warships, and more than 500 warships of more than 3,000 stone. It should be no problem to have 300 warships! What is the manager worried about?" Zhang Shi asked.
Yao Shun hesitated, "I'm worried that the three hundred warships will be detained by them after they go north, especially if they have to transport troops in Haizhou, there are risks involved."
Yao He smiled and said: "It's very simple. Our warships and cargo ships go out together, the cargo ships transport their troops, and we use the warships. Isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"
"This approach is inappropriate!"
Cai Yong immediately objected: "Zhu Si is not a fool. If our cooperation is not sincere and we deliberately fool him, we will never think of transporting anyone from Dengzhou and Laizhou. If they want warships, we will simply give them a hundred
If we show our sincerity, Zhu Si is not stingy and will allow us to transport people, money and food away."
Luo Xingwen, who joined the army as a recorder, said: "Cai Sima is right, hundreds of thousands of people cannot be transported in one or two times. As a weak party, we can only complete our plan if we show enough sincerity. The ship is a small problem, but the population is only a small problem."
It’s a big deal.”
Zhang Lan is Yao Shun's eldest brother-in-law. He is about forty years old. During Yao Guangping's era, he was the second most powerful figure. It was with his full support that Yao Shun was able to ascend to the throne. It can be said that he had the merit of supporting him, so his
Opinions are decisive, and everyone's eyes are turned to him.
Zhang Lan pondered for a while and said: "Although population is one aspect, I think more about future cooperation. Our strategic flow requires time, and we must get Zhu Si's support, so I agree with Cai Sima and Luo Canjun."
"Attitude is very important. Since we have agreed to the other party, we should show sincerity and not let the other party feel that we are unreliable and only want to take advantage. In this way, the basis for future cooperation will be lost."
Yao He's face suddenly looked a little ugly. Although these three people were all his brothers-in-law, they were obviously looking out for the interests of their respective families. They only considered the population. As for the warships, they didn't take it to heart at all.
At this time, Yao Shun said: "Since everyone has the same attitude, let's handle it according to the details discussed by both parties, and don't make any more extraneous matters. In fact, what I am most worried about is whether Guo Song will take the opportunity to attack us when our army goes north."
On this issue, Yao He's attitude was very clear, mainly because Lin Yaozu was his man, and Yao Shun was worried about Guo Song's army. In fact, he questioned whether Lin Yaozu's intelligence was accurate.
Yao He quickly said: "I believe the information from Chang'an is accurate. Guo and Song will fight on two fronts this year. One is to deal with the invasion of the Tibetan army in the west, and at the same time they have to capture Huaixi. They have no energy to take care of us, as Lin Yaozu said
, at least not this year, maybe next year.”
"General Yao is right!"
Cai Yong also smiled and said: "The situation in the Central Plains has changed drastically this year. Zhu Si is attacking Li Na with all his strength. Li Na will definitely ask Guo Song for help. Guo Song should focus all his energy on the situation in the Central Plains this year and have no time to take care of us!"
"What's Chang Shi's attitude?" Yao Shun looked at Zhang Lan again.
Zhang Lan smiled slightly and said: "I agree with General Yao and Cai Yong's conclusion. Guo Song is indeed unable to attack us this year, but the reason is not that they have no time to distract their energy, but that they do not have the ability yet!"
"Cai Changshi is talking about Guangzhou?" Yao Shun realized.
Zhang Lan nodded, "I sent someone to Guangzhou to inquire. Their ship repair progress is very slow. They will never have a ship to attack Quanzhou by the middle of next year. So we don't need to consider the safety of Quanzhou for the time being. We must seize the time to reduce the population."