I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 537 Why did you come just now?

The story of the major incident in the South China Sea began two months ago.

It was the fifth day of March. The weather in Malacca was sunny and the southeast wind was blowing gently through this western gate of the South China Sea.

On a beach outside the harbor, the sand was dazzlingly white from being tanned by the sun. In the middle was a lounge chair, on which lay a man wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts, with a straw hat covering his face and a parasol on his head, covering most of his body.

There were a few coconuts on the table next to them, all of which had a hole knocked open and a straw tube inserted into them.

There are also several kinds of tropical fruits such as mango, dragon fruit, etc. Next to it is a set of tea sets, a pot of tea and two teacups.

About ten meters away from the lounge chair is a pile of rocks, which just form a semi-moon shaped pool. The root of a bamboo pole is inserted into the crevice of the rocks, with most of it sticking out in the air. A silk fishing line is hung down and hooked in the water. A buoy floats on the water, swaying slightly as the sea breeze blows the waves.

Song Yingchang, wearing a straw hat, a white silk short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts, and a pair of wooden clogs, walked onto the beach.

At this time, he can be compared with the man called Timely Rain in the Song Dynasty, and can also be called the Black-faced Man.

He threw his slippers aside, stepped on the sand barefoot, walked around the lounge chair, came to the pile of rocks, stared at the fishing rod for a while, and suddenly shouted: "The fish is hooked!"

The man lying on the recliner suddenly jumped up from the chair and ran towards the pile of rocks, shouting, "Don't take my fish!"

"Same as Amber. No one is taking your fish away."

"Song Fuzun, you are the prefect of Sanbao Prefecture. Why are you not in Malacca? Why are you here with me?"

"I have been repairing the city for half a year and working as a slave for half a year. You should let me take a break, Tong Amber!"

Yu Dayou lifted the fishing rod, and a fish two fingers wide flew out of the water. He reached out and grabbed it steadily, and threw it into a bamboo basket half submerged in water beside him.

"Don't call me Amber, it's awkward."

"Haha, Yu Long and Qi Hu, Qi Yuanjing has become the Marquis of Fengning, do you feel uncomfortable?"

Yu Dayou said nothing and continued to put bait on the hook.

Seeing the anger on his face, Song Yingchang continued, "I heard that Altan Khan is dead. The Mongolian right wing is leaderless. How can it stop a tiger?
It won’t be long before Qi Yuanjing will catch up with Lord Meilin and be granted the title of county lord. In the future, he will be the leader of the military generals and nobles.”

Yu Dayou threw the baited hook into the water and said angrily: "The people here are cunning, and the fish here are also damn cunning!

I spent a lot of time trying, but all the fish I caught were stupid little fish."

Song Yingchang chuckled, "Tong'anbo, why are you interested in fishing here today?"

Yu Dayou replied in a deep voice: "An old man in a straw raincoat and straw hat is fishing alone in the snowy river!"

"It's so hot here that it's killing people. It's also snowy in the cold river. There's no snow here, just like Amber."

Yu Dayou stuck his fishing rod into the crevice of the rock, stood up and walked away towards the recliner.

"Yaoxiu! I didn't check the almanac when I went out today, and I encountered a fly buzzing around my ear. It's so annoying!"

He bent down to pick up the straw hat on the sand, lay down on the lounge chair, and covered his face with the hat.

Song Yingchang walked up to him and waved his hand. A man came out from the shade of a tree not far away, holding a canvas folding-wing chair and placed it in front of Song Yingchang.

"Prefect Song, please take a seat."

"Okay, you go down."

"Yes."

The bodyguards ran away and hid under the shade of the trees to cool off.

Song Yingchang first picked up the teacup and took a sip of the cold tea. Then he picked up a coconut on the table and started drinking it through a straw.

“This coconut water is good, but it’s not iced.”

"We don't have iced ones, do you want some with urine?" Yu Dayou said unhappily, "Tell me what's the matter!"

"There was an epidemic the day before yesterday, and three or four hundred Acehnese prisoners of war who were building the city died. We were short of manpower all of a sudden, so I came here for no reason."

Yu Dayou took off his straw hat and stared at Song Yingchang. "I've heard about the epidemic in Malacca. It seems to have started in the Aceh prisoner-of-war camp. Old Song, you didn't bury all those prisoners of war for epidemic prevention, did you?"

Song Yingchang's face darkened. "What are you talking about! I learned the Confucian classics, not the tyrannical theories of the Legalists."

"Nonsense! When you scholars become evil-minded, even the black bears in the mountains will bow down to you.

I don’t care how the Acehnese prisoners died, but you asked me for the wrong person. Zhang Shichen led his troops to fight the Acehnese in the South Island. If you want prisoners, you should look for him. "

"Brother Xujiang, you also know that Fu Anbo is in the South Island. The prisoners of war must be transported here by the navy's boats. We can't just ask them to swim here."

"Just swim. The strait is only a few dozen miles long. Eat more food, pray to the Buddha more, and you should be able to swim across."

Now the Ming Dynasty Surveying and Mapping Bureau calls the Greater Sunda Islands the Yanzhou Islands, Sumatra Island the Yannan Island, Java Island the Yanzhong Island, Kalimantan Island (Borneo) the Yanbei Island, and Sulawesi Island the Yandong Island.

The Malay Peninsula is called Sam Po Kong.

After Annan was completely recovered, Hu Zongxian was transferred back to the capital, and the Nanhai Xuanwei Mission was abolished. Zhu Yijun then ordered the establishment of the Yanzhou Xuanwei Mission and appointed Yu Dayou as the Xuanwei Envoy, Zhang Yuanxun and Song Yingchang as deputy envoys.

Currently, Yanzhou only has Sanbao Prefecture, which has two counties under its jurisdiction: Longkou and Malacca.

Sometimes people refer to the four Yanzhou Islands as South Island, North Island, Middle Island and East Island.

Yu Dayou finished joking and got down to business. "Zhang Shichen has been in Nandao to wipe out the Aceh Kingdom for half a year. He has destroyed 21 cities and brought back tens of thousands of prisoners of war.
My Lord Governor Song, can you please be more frugal with your money?"

"It's not that I don't use it sparingly, it's just that the deadline is tight. You guys keep urging us to repair Longkou, Malacca and the port by tomorrow. I can only ask them to work day and night.

And these Acehnese people, really, they have been beaten like grandsons, but they are still very angry and resentful. They glare at everyone they see, and they wish they could glare you to death.

If you don't obey, the supervisors can only give you a light punishment. Brother Xujiang, you also know this damn place. If you get hurt and bleed, flies and mosquitoes will swarm around you. It's over. It's troublesome. Seven or eight out of ten lives are gone."

Yu Dayou interrupted Song Yingchang's chattering, "Okay, brother Tonggang, don't talk to me about this. How many ships do you want?"

"Four. I wrote to ask, General Zhang has captured another 4,000 prisoners of war, but he is also repairing Yanlan City and needs manpower, so he can only give me 2,000 prisoners of war.

Four ships can squeeze together and the distance is not far, so they can be transported here. "Yu Dayou raised his head and thought for a while, "The ships are a bit tight."

"Why are you nervous again?"

"We don't know when the Portuguese will come. The main force of the left camp cannot move and must be ready to fight at any time."

Last year, Leon returned to Malacca with only a quarter of the diplomatic corps left, along with less than three hundred Portuguese who were driven out of the trenches.

Why are there only so few people left?

Most of the diplomatic envoys, like Marcien, stayed in Ming Dynasty.

They traveled all the way to Asia to make money.

The silver coins of the Ming Dynasty are more fragrant.

There are also people like Manuela who were busy making money and had left the diplomatic mission long ago.

Only those like missionary Francis who gained nothing left this evil country full of pagans with resentment.

There are more than 400 Portuguese people in the trench mirror, but some of them were arrested by the Guangdong government for crimes. Some of them are innocent and, after careful consideration, are still willing to stay in the Ming Dynasty.

Malacca was captured and more than 2,000 Portuguese were captured. They were all handed over to Leon, who then gave him six poorly repaired Portuguese sailboats and let them return to Goa on their own.

Leon was so melancholy. He went on a long business trip, and when he came back his house was robbed. He had to sit on a broken boat and cross the ocean to return to Goa, thousands of miles away, in shame.

Depressing!
After Yu Dayou and Zhang Yuanxun sent off Leon's fleet, they knew that the Portuguese would definitely come back for revenge.

How could the Western barbarians, who were so focused on business, be willing to lose such an important transit port, as well as such a large market and spice producing area, without taking it back?
So the two of them divided the work.

Zhang Yuanxun took part of the Marine Corps to the South Island to attack Aceh.

Yu Dayou led the main force of the South China Sea Navy's left camp in Malacca, ready to fight at any time.

"In addition to fighting, Zuoying will also allocate part of the navy to respond to Zhang Shichen's battle in the South Island and ensure the safety of his food supply."

Hearing this, Song Yingchang was furious and cursed, "Do you think the Aceh country has a brain disease?
In the past, he beat the Malaccas and the Portuguese. Now that we, the Ming Dynasty, are negotiating with him in a friendly manner, he has directly killed the Malacca envoys we sent.

Are they crazy? They beat everyone. Do they think they are the best in the world?"

Yu Dayou said leisurely: "He is very brave and will not yield to anyone. The last person who was so brave was Altan Khan's eldest son Xin Ai. Now the grass on his grave is ten feet high."

“Damn, I told you these people are mentally ill!
It's a small place, on an island, with no room for maneuver, and yet you dare to go around the world looking for trouble! Forget it, let's not talk about it. You are short of ships, so why do you need ships?"

"The people from the Surveying and Mapping Bureau want to survey the sea area east of Yandong Island. The Right Military Governor's Office directly issued a military order and asked me to cooperate. Old Song, do you think I dare not cooperate?
They formed three exploration teams. The waters south of Yanzhong Island was the southern route, the waters between Yanzhong Island and Yandong Island was the middle route, and the waters between Yandong Island and Sulu Island was the northern route.

One way, they took five of my Wusong ships, all of which were 1,000-ton main battleships. Three ways, that's 15 ships. Old Song, how many 1,000-ton main battleships do you think I have?"

Song Yingchang stamped his feet and said, "Leave this kind of mess to the Suzaku Navy.

Ten Class B battleships, as well as a bunch of escort ships and cruisers, stroll around Yandong Island and Sulu Island every day like street urchins. Just leave this mess to them!"

"Old Song, they have something important to do! Although we have defeated the Spanish fleet twice, they may send ships again this year. The Suzaku Navy must wait for them."

"Nonsense, the Spanish have a lot of stupid people and ships. They've been captured twice, and they haven't learned their lesson yet?"

"Old Song, Sulu Island is too far from Genzhou. It takes a year to go back and forth. If something happens on the way, it will take two to three years. The ship hasn't returned for two years. Maybe the Spanish will send a fleet here to find out what's going on."

"How long will this fight last?"

"Li Chao led the Azure Dragon Navy to the east to conquer Genzhou and Xunzhou. They should be almost there by now. If he can wipe out the Spaniards in Genzhou and Xunzhou, the Suzaku Navy will be able to free itself.

But they also have other important things to do. Yandong and Yanzhong Islands are pirate dens, and the Suzaku Navy has been busy fighting the pirates there this year.

busy.

Besides, they are a strategic navy directly under the Right Military Governor's Office, and the South China Sea Navy has no control over them. I can't command them either."

Yu Dayou spread his hands.

Song Yingchang's face darkened. "No, no matter what, you have to get me four boats that can hold 500 people. It will only take two days."

Yu Dayou thought for a moment and said, "In a few days, a merchant caravan will come from Kunlun Island. There should be six armed merchant ships of 1,000 tons. I will go and ask them to arrange for four ships to be borrowed for two days.

You have many treasures in Sanbao Mansion, use some of them to do good things. They will be able to report to their superiors, and it will be good for everyone!"

Song Yingchang thought for a moment, "Okay! All the sailors in the South China Sea will have to recognize your and An Bo's reputation. If you come forward, there will definitely be no problem.

When I get back, I'll take a look around the warehouse to see if there's anything I can offer."

A personal soldier came running over, "General, General!"

Yu Dayou turned around and asked, "What's the matter?"

“Black smoke is rising from Penang!”

Yu Dayou stood up suddenly, and Song Yingchang was also surprised and stood up as well.

The left camp of the South China Sea Navy set up guard posts on We Island at the western end of Yannan Island, as well as Phuket Island and Penang Island in Sam Po Province, and raised black smoke when they saw the Western barbarian fleet.

Now the British are still engaged in pirate activities in the North Sea, the Dutch usually only gather three or five ships to trade, and the Spanish are busy digging for silver in the New World.

Currently, the only people here who can organize a fleet to sail eastward are the Portuguese.

“How many?”

"Five puffs of black smoke!"

Five puffs of black smoke meant that there were more than fifty ships approaching, and the Portuguese had invested a huge sum of money.

Yu Dayou touched his hot hair with his right hand and said fiercely, "Sai Linmu, you are finally here!"

(End of this chapter)