1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 563 The Uninvited Guest

Compared with Yan Mingjun, Li Jin's experience in his new job was even more bleak. Yan Mingjun sent a few yamen servants to put on a facade for him, but Li Jin didn't even receive a single soldier. .Early this morning, the four wounded soldiers were sent back. However, their injuries required rest, and there was no way to help him in the past ten days and a half months.

Of course, Li Jin didn't want to endure this kind of treatment from passers-by. He was a dignified general who didn't even have a single soldier under his command. What did he look like?The most urgent task for Li Jin is to enrich his own strength first, otherwise he will encounter the situation at the Baimajing Wharf yesterday, no matter how brave he is, he will not be able to defeat those Haihan minions who appear in groups.

Although the garrison system in Danzhou was dismantled during the bandit disaster last year and has not been rebuilt yet, Li Jin believes that since Mr. Xiao Qian still has people under his command, it means that there should still be a certain amount of bright troops in the area. However, due to the existence of the Haihan militia, the Ming army has been unable to perform its mission of guarding the place, and all he has to do is to take over the command as soon as possible, and then gradually regain the local military control from the Haihan people.

Naturally, it was not difficult to find out where the guarding army was stationed. Li Jin wanted to go and call Yan Mingjun together, but unexpectedly, he was in vain.On his way to the south of the city, he happened to meet Yan Mingjun who came out for a private visit with his entourage.

The part of the south gate close to the city wall is the barracks of the local garrison. However, due to the limited area of ​​Danzhou City, this is only the barracks and does not include the training ground.In the past, the garrison had to carry out training, and it was always carried out outside the city.Therefore, although this is the location of the local garrison, it does not occupy a large area, and the original high-ranking officers all have residences in the city, and do not live in barracks.From where they stood, they could already see the flagpole in the camp from a distance, but at this time the flagpole was bare and no flag was hung on it.

Before Yan Mingjun could say yes or no, He Qi behind him had already said: "My lords, the local barracks have already been requisitioned by the Haihan militia, and now the barracks are not stationed in the Ming army, but members of the Haihan militia. "

Li Jin asked in astonishment, "Where is the local Ming army now?"

He Qi replied: "The local guard army was disbanded last year and has no residence."

Li Jin shook his head and said, "Impossible. Didn't Mr. Qian, surnamed Xiao, lead his troops to garrison at Baimajing Wharf before? These people must have a place to stay, right?"

"This... I don't know much about villains." He Qi wasn't too interested in it, and he didn't really know much about it, but he did know that the people in the Daming Garrison in Danzhou had nothing to do with Hai Han. It's just a nostril, he doesn't dare to talk about these soldiers behind his back.

"Let's go and have a look!" Li Jin didn't intend to ask He Qi for anything, and he wouldn't give up easily without looking at the actual situation.

So the group of three came to the gate of the barracks at the south gate. Sure enough, the guards here were not the Daming Guards, but soldiers from the Haihan People's Corps in gray uniforms.

After the three approached, some militia stopped them: "Stop! Didn't you see the sign here?"

There is indeed a sign erected next to this sentry post, which says "Military important place, no idlers should enter".Of course Li Jin saw it, but he didn't regard himself as an idler. He snorted and said, "This official is Li Jin, the new general of Danzhou. Back away quickly!"

Li Jin's prestige did not succeed, and the militiamen who stopped them looked at him like an idiot and said, "Do you not understand what I said? This is a military important place, and trespassing is not allowed!"

"My official is the general of Danzhou!" Li Jin couldn't help but raised his voice and shouted.

It didn't matter what he said, and soon a dozen militiamen with live ammunition poured out from the gate of the barracks, pointing their guns at the three of them.Before Li Jin could react, He Qi called out first: "Masters, don't misunderstand, these two adults are just here to pay a visit to the chief of the militia, and they have no hostility!"

A militia officer walked up to Li Jin and asked indifferently, "Are you a general?"

Li Jin didn't understand, so he nodded.The officer snorted coldly and said, "Da Ming's general, what have you got to do with my Haihan militia? What qualifications do you have to order my people to retreat?"

Li Jin was so choked by his words that he couldn't speak. He really wanted to get angry, but seeing the muzzles of a dozen black guns next to him, he really didn't dare to take the risk.As a soldier, Li Jin still knows the goods. The rifles used by the Haihan militia are all flintlock guns that can be fired with a single pull of the trigger, not the kind of arquebus that takes several seconds from ignition to firing. Such a close Even if he is skilled in martial arts, he can't dodge the lead bullets fired from so many guns.And this gang of lawless Haihan militiamen didn't seem to be afraid to use violence against him, a member of the Ming Dynasty.

Yan Mingjun stood up to smooth things over and said, "May I ask which director of Haihan is in charge here? Can you please come out and meet with me?"

The militia officer responded: "Our militia is not happy to call the director, what do you want to see our chief?"

Yan Mingjun said: "I have official business consultations, can't you? If you don't report it quickly, you will delay things, can you afford it?"

He is also worthy of being a person who has been rolling in the officialdom for more than ten years. Although he has lost power at the moment, he still has an aura. These words temporarily bluffed people.The officer looked him up and down a few times before telling him to go back to the camp to inform his superiors.

After a while, a dark and sturdy officer came out to meet them: "I am the commander of the militia in Danzhou City, Yu Tiezhu, the lieutenant of the Haihan militia, and you two can tell me if you have anything to do."

Yan Mingjun heard that his accent was a bit close to Haihan people, but judging from his appearance and complexion, he didn't seem to be a pure Haihan person, and he didn't know what level of officer this "Army Lieutenant" was, so he could only clasp his fists at the moment. Said: "General Yu is polite! I would like to ask General Yu, where is the Daming garrison camp in Danzhou now?"

Yu Tiezhu's answer was also full of indifference: "Ming garrison? Since I led a team to Danzhou City three months ago, I have never heard that there is a Daming garrison here. If Daming has a garrison here, we must What are we here for?"

Li Jin shouted: "Then why did Mr. Qian, surnamed Xiao, bring people to guard Danzhou Bay?"

Yu Tiezhu gave him a cold look before answering: "Mr. Xiao Qian's people are the soldiers he brought over from Changhua County in the south where he was originally employed. As for where he and his subordinates are stationed, there is no question We will not interfere. If you must know the answer, you can go to Baimajing Wharf and ask Mr. Xiao Qian.”

Of course, Li Jin didn't believe Yu Tiezhu's statement. Then Xiao Laosan was a general manager after he was promoted to a higher level after the bandit disaster. A group of soldiers?He himself became a general, and he only brought four personal soldiers. Does it really mean that it doesn't cost money to raise private soldiers?
Seeing that the other party's attitude was so perfunctory, Li Jin became a little anxious: "Then my Ming garrison is gone?"

Yu Tiezhu said: "What does this have to do with me, Haihan? You can report to your court to apply for military expenses, and then recruit!"

Li Jin thought to himself, if I can apply for military expenses, why did I only bring four soldiers to Danzhou to take up the post? Isn't it because the Guangdong government can't afford the money?As for applying to the imperial court and the Ministry of War, there is no need to think about it. All the money of the Ministry of War is still in the bottomless pit in the northeast. Now even the bandits in the Central Plains are hard to put down, so there is no need to care about the border of the South China Sea.

"You have no soldiers at your disposal. It's not our Haihan's fault. Why should you go? You are also a soldier. You should be very clear about the crime of trespassing on a military important place!" Yu Tiezhu obviously didn't want to talk to Li After talking too much nonsense and succinctly speaking, he turned his head and returned to the camp. After walking a few steps, he threw down a hard sentence: "If anyone wants to break into the military camp, they will be treated as pirates and spies!"

"Yes!" The junior officer who had put Li Jin in trouble earlier raised his hand and gave a military salute, and replied loudly.

"You have all heard Lieutenant Yu's order! Keep an eye on them!" After the officer gave the order, he also left on his own, completely ignoring the two Ming officials at the door.

Yan Mingjun and Li Jin really felt that their lungs were going to explode. Although they thought that they might face all kinds of difficulties after arriving in Danzhou, the actual bleakness of what they encountered was obviously beyond their imagination.Whether it was Zhang Xin yesterday or the officer surnamed Yu today, it was obvious that the Haihan people did not take them seriously at all, let alone have any sense of awe for their identities.In front of the Haihan people, they seem to be no different from ordinary people.

After such a thing happened, it was impossible for them to continue confronting the Haihan militiamen at the gate of the barracks, and the result would only be self-defeating.Neither of them was in the mood to wander around the city anymore, so they had to go back home.In Li Jin's yamen, apart from the four wounded soldiers, there was only one cook and an old janitor, so he simply followed Yan Mingjun, planning to go to his house for dinner.

Yan Mingjun went back to his temporary yamen, and asked the servants who guarded the door. After a long time, no one came to visit the door, and there was no invitation to dinner.For the newly appointed magistrate, this was a frighteningly deserted scene.I think back when he was promoted to the prefect of Luoding Prefecture, even though Luoding Prefecture was a small place, there were invitation letters from local gentry every day, and two full meals were arranged every day, and it took more than half a month before the wave of banquet to finish eating.

However, after arriving in the ghostly place of Danzhou, the gap is really too big.It is obvious that the local gentry has a clear position, and has drawn a clear line with the two outsiders.

Yan Mingjun smiled wryly: "Brother Li, do you want to go back and ask your concierge if he has gained anything?"

Li Jin shook his head and said: "You don't even have a hair here, let alone me, don't ask. It's fine if no one invites you, and it's the same for you and my brother to eat and drink by ourselves. Later, I will ask the servants to go to the restaurant to buy a table. , I have paid out the money!"

Yan Mingjun was waiting for a few words of politeness, and his servants ran to the door of the study to report: "Master, someone sent a name card, saying that he is going to visit the master."

"Oh? Let's take a look." Yan Mingjun was overjoyed when he heard the words. After two days in Danzhou, a visitor finally came to his door.If this continues, he will really doubt whether he has become transparent, and others will not be able to see his existence at all.

Those who came to the door were not colleagues from the officialdom, nor were they those people I met at the banquet yesterday, but a strange name that I had never heard before.However, Yan Mingjun had already told He Qi to go home from work, so even if he wanted to find someone to inquire about it, there was no way.

Li Jindao: "Brother Yan, the visitor is a guest. Since someone comes to the door, it's better to see him first."

Yan Mingjun nodded, and asked his servants to invite them to the study in the future.

Soon Yan Mingjun saw the visitor, a man about 50 to [-] years old, he was not badly dressed, at least he was a wealthy gentry.

"Craftsman Huang Zixing, I have met Lord Yan and Lord Li!" The visitor was quite self-conscious, and began to salute as soon as he entered the study.

"Excuse me, excuse me!" Yan Mingjun put his hands up, said politely, and then asked: "I just read this famous post. Mr. Huang is the head of the local Zhongming Academy?"

What is this "Zhongming Academy", Yan Mingjun has never heard of it before, and he can be sure that he did not hear the group of local cultural circles talk about this academy at yesterday's banquet.There are probably two possibilities for this. One is that this academy does not exist, and the other is that this academy is not currently in the mainstream circle of Danzhou cultural circles.

Of course, it is a bit far-fetched to say that it does not exist. After all, Danzhou is the cultural center of Qiongzhou Island. There are twenty or thirty academies, large and small, and only seven or eight of the largest ones came to the banquet yesterday.However, even if it is a less famous academy, it is quite a surprise for Yan Mingjun. After all, the group of local literati who toasted with him at the banquet yesterday, not to mention paying a visit today, even sent a name card. None of them.

Huang Zixing replied: "Caomin does have an academy in Danzhou, but it is not large in scale and cannot be compared with the local academies such as Bailu and Qingfeng."

Yan Mingjun said: "President Huang, why should he be self-effacing, what he reads are all books of sages and sages, it has nothing to do with the size of the academy."

Huang Zixing said: "Master Yan has seen people well, and the grass-roots admire them. Your Excellency is busy with official duties, so the grass-roots don't go around in circles. The grass-roots dare to ask, after you come to Danzhou, how do you feel about the local area?"

Before Yan Mingjun could think of a good word, Li Jin, who was sitting next to him, spoke first: "The Haihan people overshadowed the sky in Danzhou with one hand, breaking my Ming's rules, it's a mess, it's not proper!"

Yan Mingjun said in his heart that the way of this person has not been figured out yet, so you express your opinion unscrupulously, and when this word reaches the ears of the Haihan people, you and I are afraid that we will be humiliated in different ways again, so immediately raise your hand to signal Li Jin shut up.

(End of this chapter)