Reborn Ming Dynasty as Emperor

Chapter 371
It is not the end of the Qing Dynasty yet, and the gap between the East and the West has not yet reached the point where it is completely invincible.

Although many officials were a little flustered because of the mighty hundreds of soft-sail warships pointing their muzzles at the city of Guangzhou, the officials of Ming Dynasty were not so weak when they saw the foreign devils.

Therefore, Zheng Zhilong and Xiyangfan did not dare to rush into the range of the fort to attack, and the officials of the Guangzhou government did not abandon the city directly.

Shang Zhouzuo, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, also rushed directly to the city of Guangzhou. After meeting a group of officials in Guangzhou, he climbed up the city tower in person. But I didn't expect that the sea trouble has become so serious that these barbarians dare to attack my Ming Dynasty!"

After finishing speaking, Shang Zhouzuo couldn't help turning around and asking Xiao Hegui, magistrate of Xiangshan County, who came with him to Guangzhou Fucheng: "Magistrate Xiao, you keep saying that these Western fans are just borrowing land to live temporarily, and they will not hinder my Ming's safety. Now look, These people are not harmful to the safety of our Ming Dynasty, in my opinion, they are just some wolfish and ambitious people! If we don’t kill them, there will be no peace in the sea!”

Xiao Hegui, the county magistrate of Xiangshan County, was born in Juren. He has been dealing with Western fans for many years. Although Fan is an overseas barbarian, he has great influence. Now that soldiers are coming to Guangzhou, if we are a little careless, it will bring disaster to the people of Guangdong and Guangxi. According to the officials, this matter is nothing more than an incident in Macau. As long as we can allow it They are temporarily staying in Macau, why should they go to war like this!"

"Vice General Liu!"

Shang Zhouzuo shouted loudly, and Vice General Liu responded, "The last general is here!"

"Drag Xiao Hegui, magistrate of Xiangshan County, and kill him immediately!"

Shang Zhouzuo was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and he did have the right to do things cheaply and kill first, but before that, most officials in Guangdong and Guangxi thought he was just a scholar. I mistakenly thought that the governor was just a pedant who could only sit in his study.

Otherwise, Xiao Hegui, the magistrate of Xiangshan County, would not have dared to admit directly in front of Shang Zhouzuo that the reason why Guangzhou was besieged was because the imperial court wanted to take back the right of residence in Macau. It can force Shang Zhouzuo to have something to do with the intention of the court to retreat.

But what Xiao Hegui didn't expect was that the usually gentle governor suddenly turned murderous on him. He was a little stunned and didn't even know what to say. He didn't come back to himself until he was dragged out of the government office by Deputy General Liu and pressed to the ground. , but before he could yell out, his head fell to the ground, bleeding all over the floor.

Seeing this, the other officials couldn't help trembling, and they all focused their attention on Shang Zhouzuo. No one thought that at such a critical moment, his lord governor would kill a court official so lightly. In Guangzhou government office.

"Anyone who disturbs the morale of the army will be killed without mercy!"

Shang Zhouzuo only said one sentence before turning around and facing the wall.
All of a sudden, at this moment, Shang Zhouzuo had added a bit of awe-inspiring murderousness to his elegance.

However, although Shang Zhouzuo acted so resolutely on the surface, his heart was full of mixed feelings at this time. Without mentioning it by Xiao Hegui, the magistrate of Xiangshan County, he also knew that there were so many Western fans and pirate warships suddenly appearing in Guangzhou. It is because of the matter in Macau.

However, it is His Majesty's will to take back the right of residence in Macau, and he has even made it clear that if Macau is not taken back, he will be killed, so on this point, he can only make no concessions.

But now these Western fans are trying to force themselves to make concessions by encircling the city of Guangzhou with soldiers, but it is impossible for them to make concessions without authorization, and once the local officials push harder, as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, for the sake of Ming's dignity, they can only show The tougher he is, the Xiangshan magistrate Xiao Hegui might not have to be killed, but now he is forced to do so!

It is even necessary to completely change the officialdom system of these two provinces.

Under such circumstances, no one is allowed to shake the court's determination to take back Macau, let alone a small magistrate.

The head of Xiao Hegui, the magistrate of Xiangshan County, greatly enhanced Shang Zhouzuo's majesty. Next, the officials in Guangdong and Guangxi did not dare to disobey his wishes. They did not dare to be negligent in the allocation of supplies and stabilizing the order in the city. Shang Zhouzuo's order.

Shang Zhouzuo did not return to Zhaoqing, so he stayed in Guangzhou Fucheng for the time being, sending people to contact the South China Sea Fleet through other means and mobilizing troops from other regions as a precaution.

……

On the other hand, Zheng Zhilong and Xiyangfan Turia seemed a little annoyed because no one from the Ming court came to sue for peace.

"Mr. Zheng, the governor named Shang Zhouzuo seems to be very patient. Xiaozhi County hasn't come yet. Is it possible that these Ming people are really not afraid of our artillery?" Turia said angrily.

Zheng Zhilong was also a little depressed at this time, and didn't say anything, until the end he said: "In this case, you can shell one round, kill a few of his people, and try to burn a few of his houses!"

As an important port in the South China Sea of ​​Daming, Guangzhou Fucheng was already considered the leading city in Guangdong and Guangxi at this time, so there were many fishermen's villages outside the city.

Although the city of Guangzhou was under martial law and all fishing boats were ordered not to go out to sea without authorization, there were still many fishermen who took risks in order to survive, so they became the living targets of these Western gunboats.

The rumbling sound made Shang Zhouzuo hurriedly board the city tower, and saw with his own eyes that many fishermen of Ming Dynasty were buried under the enemy's artillery fire. There is no way.

In recent years, since the Japanese pirate rebellion has passed, the world has been at peace for a long time, and the center of gravity of the imperial court has moved to the north to fight against the Qing Dynasty, and Zheng's pirates are concentrated in the Fujian and Zhejiang areas, resulting in the coastal defense of the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. It has been weakened a lot, and most of the tiny dozen or so warships are already dilapidated, and they can't form any combat effectiveness. What's more, when facing the huge Western Fan and Zheng's fleet, they have no choice but to look at the ocean, even if they rush up It's just an egg hitting a rock.

However, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Shang Zhouzuo, who did not know much about military affairs but understood civil affairs and loved the people like a son, still ordered the few poor naval warships in the Guangdong and Guangxi areas to brave the artillery fire to rescue the common people under the enemy's artillery fire.

Fortunately, Zheng Zhilong and Xiyangfan's fleet stopped attacking after a round of bombardment, and took the initiative to send an envoy ashore.

And this envoy was a Frangji man named Luo Zexi, who was also proficient in Ming Dynasty Mandarin.

The reason why no one from Zheng Zhilong was sent was because Zheng Zhilong didn't want to directly admit that he had stood on the opposite side of the imperial court, and would rather sell out the interests of the country than sacrifice his own maritime interests.

Of course, Zheng Zhilong was just trying to cover it up, even if he didn't show his flag, just from the size and type of the sailing ship, someone with a little experience would be able to identify which side of the pirate it was.

……

At the same time, a naval battle near Dongsha has come to an end.

The black gunpowder smoke began to dissipate, and the broken sailboat also began to sink into the bottom of the sea, its figure gradually disappearing on this boundless sea level.

However, the human corpses began to be gradually exposed on the sea surface due to swelling, scattered among the broken wooden canvas, making people look disgusting, but some sharks were very hopeful and gradually gathered here.

If you look carefully, you will find that the bodies floating on the sea are almost all the corpses of pirates, while most of the casualties of the South China Sea Fleet were salvaged. According to the oath rules of the Daming Naval Academy, except for the annihilation of the whole army, all of them were buried overseas. He made his comrades-in-arms wander in a foreign land, and became food for fish and shrimp.

Anyway, from the former Beihai First Fleet to the current South China Sea Fleet, naval battles require teamwork more than land battles, and the team spirit of soldiers is even more important. Not letting your comrades throw their bodies on the sea will strengthen the collective Even Gu Sanmazi bowed seriously to the martyrs on the deck.

Although there were not many martyrs who died, these were not soldiers who could be easily trained. Because His Majesty Zhu Youxiao intended to find a new way to control Macau in the South China Sea, he transferred many backbones of the North Sea Fleet to the South China Sea Fleet. Therefore, many of the martyrs of the Imperial Guard who died now are compound arms trained by the Daming Naval Academy, and many of them even have fame.

But as long as there is a war, there will be sacrifices. This is an unchangeable iron law. However, in this naval battle, the casualties of the South China Sea Fleet were not high. This is also because Zheng Zhibao's fleet underestimated the enemy. The crowd can frighten the South China Sea Fleet, and then let the South China Sea Fleet understand the strength of the Zheng family, but they did not expect that Gu Sanmazi and the South China Sea Fleet led by him not only did not feel afraid of this, but had the appetite to eat him.

In terms of its scale and experience in naval warfare, Zheng Zhibao's fleet naturally has an advantage, but it is because he thinks he has the advantage and completely ignores the South China Sea Fleet. The attitude is very high, the discipline is strict, and they have just taken advantage of the Ryukyu naval battle to gain some confidence, so they don't have any fear when they see the Zheng family's fleet, but they still want to fight again urgently.

Of course, it is also related to Gu Sanmazi's boldness. Originally, Gu Sanmazi, who was a pirate, dared to take ten broken ships to provoke Zheng's group, and also used various changes in time and place to make the court and Zheng's group dizzy. Now This Gu Sanmazi became the chief military officer of the imperial court, and received training from the Royal Military Academy, as well as various guerrilla tactics, sports warfare tactics, etc. in the school, which prompted the current Gu Sanmazi to have another established team. After the fleet became more daring.

And Gu Sanmazi also happened to take advantage of Zheng Zhibao's blind arrogance and blindly wanting to avenge his second brother's weakness, and lured Zheng Zhibao into his own trap step by step, prompting Zheng Zhibao to waste a lot of energy in vain Most of the losses were lost, and in the end only twenty or so broken ships were taken away and fled back in embarrassment.

However, Gu Sanmazi still felt very sorry, and couldn't help but sigh: "If I have another Yuqian in my hands, I will definitely not let this guy escape."

Hearing what Gu Sanmazi said, Hei Wa couldn't help asking: "Brother, are we still chasing him?"

"Stop chasing, His Majesty's order is for us to rush to Guangdong and Guangxi immediately to deter those Westerners who are trying to occupy Macau for a long time. It is okay to fish occasionally along the way, but we must not forget our mission. Send an order to stop resting and turn around immediately. Direction, rush to Guangdong and Guangxi!"

Gu Sanmazi didn't say that he was also worried that Zheng Zhibao would suffer a big loss this time, whether he would force Zheng Zhilong to break up with the court and gather all his strength to deal with him, and this area was his territory, and his own If the South China Sea Fleet stays for a long time, I am afraid that the gains will not be worth the losses.

However, what Gu Sanmazi didn't expect was that as soon as he entered the vicinity of Guangdong, the sentry ship in front immediately came to report, and there were a large number of soft sailing ships of Western fans and hard sailing ships of pirates gathered in Guangzhou.And from time to time there was the sound of cannons.

Gu Sanmazi was very surprised when he heard this. After nearly a month of continuous wandering at sea, his South China Sea Fleet almost cut off all contact with the outside world, so he didn't know the situation in Guangzhou.

"Soldier-in-Chief, should we rescue Guangzhou Fucheng immediately? If we fight with these bastards, do they really think I'm a Ming Dynasty?"

The officers of the South China Sea Fleet had just won a big battle, and their morale was high. Therefore, after seeing enemy ships several times their size, they were still very confident, eager to fight another three hundred rounds.

But Gu Sanmazi waved his hand at this time, with a quality of being able to take it up and put it down, and commanding it firmly, and said decisively: "Don't worry, when the situation is unknown, don't act rashly, first Let the patrol boat continue to covertly investigate, and at the same time find a way to contact the people on land to figure out the situation, and the rest of the fleet will retreat immediately, looking for islands and reefs to hide on the spot!"

After a few days passed, Gu Sanmazi finally figured out the situation and learned why these Western and pirate ships surrounded the city of Guangzhou. He couldn't help but ask the Jin Yiwei who came to deliver the information: "So many enemy ships are here. They have been besieged for so long and have blocked such a large sea outlet, where did their food and drinking water come from?"

"It can only come from Xiangshan and other places. It is impossible to use it locally. The Governor Shang Zhouzuo has ordered the implementation of fortified walls and clearing the fields, and threw poison in several rivers near the sea," the Jinyiwei replied.

"In this way, if these people want to get supplies, they can only come from Xiangshan and Macau," Gu Sanmazi said to himself, and immediately ordered: "Head the order and go to Macau immediately! Forcing me, Daming, to admit their right of residence in Macau, then I, Gu Sanmazi, will directly burn down their house in Macau and kill their people in Macau. Let’s see what he uses to force us! A bunch of bastards, I am really a grandfather Is it easy to bully!"

After all, the South China Sea Fleet has been resting for a few days and is heading towards Macau without a sound, and Zheng Zhilong and Xiyang Fan are still naive. A trap was set for the South China Sea Fleet.

(End of this chapter)