Borrow the day to change the day

During the Little Ice Age, February in Fujian was still very cold.At this time, no matter whether it is a pirate or an official army, they generally stay in the den and do not go out.

Yan Yingyuan, the general of the Fujian navy, was not in his mansion, but went to the water camp for inspection.

At this time, he not only knew that he had an extra nephew, but also knew that his former boss, Governor Lu Xiangsheng of Denglai, together with his brother-in-law, had captured Jianlu's puppet.

Yan Yingyuan secretly worked hard while envious, otherwise, it's hard to say whether he would come to Shuiying for inspection in such a cold day.

But not long after he made his inspection tour, Fujian Governor Xiong Wencan sent someone to look for him.He vaguely knew what was going on, because it was mentioned in his brother-in-law's letter, and it was almost time.

When Yan Yingyuan arrived at the Governor's Mansion and was led into the Houya, he found that the Haiphong guerrilla Zheng Zhilong was already there.

"See Zhongcheng." Yan Yingyuan bowed to Xiong Wencan who was sitting at the head.

"Li Heng, you don't need to be too polite, I'll sit on the side." Xiong Wencan's attitude was very good, not only arranged to discuss matters in the back office, but also very polite.

Of course Yan Yingyuan knew that it was because of his brother-in-law, but he didn't have any scruples because of it, he still obeyed the rules and sat down in his seat after the ceremony was over.

"Today, the old man received an imperial decree, saying that the north has formed a fleet of sailor battalion, and one of you two should go to accept it, and go to Jiaozhi to escort the grain ship back to Beijing." Xiong Wencan opened his mouth when he saw the two sat down. Said.

When Yan Yingyuan heard it, it was indeed what his brother-in-law told him.He then turned his head to look at Zheng Zhilong, who was bowing his head, but seeing that his expression was normal, he knew that he probably knew about it.

After Xiong Wencan finished speaking, he didn't look at Zheng Zhilong, but just stared at Yan Yingyuan and said, "The old man called you here to know how your current situation is and who can complete this errand."

"Zhongcheng, the general has detected a large number of pirates gathering, and is about to go out to suppress the bandits. Although the general wants to accept the order, he is afraid that the pirates will make trouble." Zheng Zhilong waited for Xiong Wencan to finish speaking, and replied first.

There is indeed a mission to suppress bandits, and Yan Yingyuan also knows this.After he arrived in Fujian, he has gone out to sea with Zheng Zhilong several times and wiped out several pirates.

Xiong Wencan immediately nodded and said, "Suppressing bandits is very important, and I know this."

After finishing speaking, he turned to Yan Yingyuan and asked, "What about you, Liheng?"

"The final general is fine for the time being, and he is planning to go with Zheng Guerrilla to suppress the bandits." Yan Yingyuan clasped his fists and replied to Xiong Wencan.

Xiong Wencan shook his head and said: "No need, no need. It is enough for mere pirates to have Fei Huang, and Li Heng's going is a fuss. Besides, it is strictly stipulated in the imperial decree that one of you must go to the water camp and accept Go to guard food."

What he meant by that was already very clear.You Yan Yingyuan, go do this job.

According to ordinary people, if this kind of thing is a good thing, the high-level people rush to do it, and there is no such thing as low-level people; if it is not a good thing, then the high-level people directly throw the task to the low-level people , just one sentence.

But the current situation in the Fujian Navy is different. It stands to reason that after the governor of Fujian received the imperial edict, he could directly order whoever he wanted to go.But the two people under his command are not easy-going lamps, Zheng Zhilong is his parents, and Yan Yingyuan has a hard backer.

So Xiong Wencan recruited the two of them to discuss it.Of course, he was partial to Zheng Zhilong, so he had already discussed with Zheng Zhilong before sending Yan Yingyuan over.

And Zheng Zhilong was born as a great pirate, and his knowledge is not comparable to that of ordinary people.I have long been used to Western artillery clippers.Therefore, he is not uncommon for the imperial court to allocate this water camp.

However, when he heard that the north began to build ships on a large scale, he was still taken aback.He thought that the imperial court was serious, and the warships he began to build were imitations of Western sailing ships.It turns out that this kind of old-fashioned ship can only deal with ordinary pirates.

Zheng Zhilong's own fleet included not only imitated Western ships, but also large ships directly purchased from Westerners, including the artillery used by the fleet, which were also directly purchased from Westerners.

Under such a background, how could Zheng Zhilong give up the Fujian base and go to Jiaozhi just to covet the four Fuchuan, two Haicang and four Cangshan boats.You know, many of his pirate brothers who were sworn brothers back then were thinking about how to kill him.

Moreover, the total number of cannons of so many ships is not as large as the number of cannons of his two large ships.More importantly, if the large-caliber artillery on the largest fuchuan, that is, Daihatsu, is fired directly on the ship, it will shatter the ship, and it is actually impossible to fire.It needs to be hoisted to the raft towed by the stern to fire the cannon.In other words, this kind of big fuss is basically a display.

Yan Yingyuan understood Xiong Wencan's meaning, he just frowned and asked: "Zhongcheng, are all the sailors in this water battalion fully equipped?"

Xiong Wencan was taken aback for a moment, and then understood.Yan Yingyuan must have received advice from his brother-in-law, knowing that there were only ships and no sailors in the water camp.So even though he didn't let him read the imperial decree, he was able to say this.

Knowing that it was useless to deny it, he simply shook his head and said, "There is no sailor configuration."

Yan Yingyuan was waiting for this sentence, and he immediately replied: "Zhongcheng, let's go to Jiaozhi, and then escort the grain ship to the capital. It is thousands of miles away. And the sea is not peaceful, there are not enough sailors, and if they are skilled sailors, I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete the mission. According to the general's opinion, it is better for experienced Zheng Gueran to go on this mission."

Zheng Zhilong cursed secretly, if he can go, it's your turn to say it.He knew what Yan Yingyuan really meant by what Yan Yingyuan said, so Zheng Zhilong immediately interjected and said, "It doesn't matter if there are no sailors, General Yan Shen can draw from the navy as much as possible."

Yan Yingyuan wanted Zheng Zhilong's words, because the Fujian navy is tantamount to Zheng Zhilong's private army.If Zheng Zhilong didn't nod his head in agreement, I'm afraid the sailors he selected would want to go with him, and he would also have to consider the consequences of offending Zheng Zhilong.

"Okay, since that's the case, I'll go back and pick sailors right away." Yan Yingyuan looked at Zheng Zhilong and said with a smile.

Then he turned back, looked at Xiong Wencan, and asked for his opinion: "Zhongcheng, do you think this is okay?"

Xiong Wencan had discussed it with Zheng Zhilong earlier, and knew that this was the worst situation, and it was within their tolerance.So he nodded and said: "Okay, then Liheng will work hard."

Yan Yingyuan didn't have more than half a year, and it was estimated that it would be impossible to return to the Fujian Navy, which made 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 bit. It's best if he isn't around.

Therefore, after getting the consent of Xiong Wencan and Zheng Zhilong, Yan Yingyuan immediately returned to the camp, picked out some skilled and reliable sailors he had long been optimistic about, and went to Nanjing to accept the water camp.