Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 157
"Mulan Song" was decided in this way. Wang Yan didn't expect to be able to compose the drama he imagined. He only hoped that Li Xiangjun could use it to practice and write some operas about Yue Wumu and Wen Jiegong in the future.

Seeing that Li Xiangjun had something to do, Xu Yanyan was happy, and asked Su Kunsheng to be invited. Seeing that she was interested, Wang Yan simply asked someone to invite a South Opera troupe to live in the Duke's mansion, exclusively for Li Xiangjun to drive.

For a while, the civilians outside the Governor's Mansion often heard bursts of babbling lyrics.

Southern opera originated from Zaju, and has been greatly developed since Jianyan’s journey to the south. It has a heavy voice, but Guangzhou is located in Tiannan, and its opera culture is far behind that of Jiangnan. Su Kunsheng listened to Wang Yan’s suggestion and introduced string music from northern opera. , combined with the wind music of Southern Opera, coupled with gongs, drums, and festival panels, immediately changed the style of opera greatly. It lacked the elegance of the Jiangnan, but added the vastness and desolation of the North, making it even more similar to "Mulan Song". for fit.

Naturally, this kind of unusual singing quickly attracted the attention of the common people, and spread throughout the city of Guangzhou within a few days.

The rise of the civil class in the Ming Dynasty was an unprecedented phenomenon in all dynasties. At that time, people liked operas and novels, which were the products of social development to a certain extent.

In a few days, the street outside the backyard of the Governor's Mansion was already occupied by many pergolas, and many people came here every day just for the occasional libretto that came out of the courtyard.

Wang Yan didn't care about this, he was worrying about recruiting new soldiers, but Su Guansheng rushed into the mansion suddenly, and when he saw him, he yelled, "Your father entrusted you with the land of Guangdong, so I will repay your father's favor like this!" ?”

Wang Yan didn't understand why Su Guansheng was like this, and he didn't dare to offend the old man, so he had to let him finish his scolding first, and then asked why he was so angry, and only then learned that it was the opera troupe in the mansion who sang lyrics every day, which made everyone in the city know , thinking that the Duke of Chu only plays and sings in the mansion day and night every day.

At that moment, Wang Yan had no choice but to quickly explain to him, explaining his intentions, and Su Guansheng calmed down his anger, but he still disagreed with Wang Yan's putting the theater troupe in the Duke's mansion, which made him very embarrassed. In the end, he had to agree, as long as he found a suitable place , Immediately moved the troupe out of the mansion.

Seeing Su Guansheng let go of this matter, Wang Yan couldn't help but feel a little relieved, and was about to get up to send him out, but Su Guansheng sat down on the chair beside him, and then handed out a report: "Duke, look at this!"

Wang Yan couldn't help taking it with a burst of doubt, and when he started to watch, Su Guansheng explained: "In the early days of this month, three merchant ships were hijacked. Here, the Duke must dispatch the navy to clear the waters as soon as possible, otherwise the trade between Guangdong and Hai is just empty talk."

Wang Yan looked at the report and listened to Su Guansheng's words, and couldn't help frowning, "Ge Lao presided over the commercial affairs at the end of September and sent ships to sea. Why didn't the merchant ships be robbed at that time, but now there is a problem?"

Su Guansheng's expression changed, and he realized that the problem was much more serious than he had imagined, "What does the Duke mean, someone is obstructing it?"

"It's just a suspicion, there is no evidence at all." Wang Yan nodded, and asked again: "How do the maritime merchants near Guangzhou react?"

Su Guansheng said thoughtfully: "The Maritime Department reported that since the end of September, the number of ships going out to sea has been decreasing, and after the recent robbery, it has dropped by more than [-]%. Then send ships to sea, only some small businessmen, because they are in short supply of money and urgently need turnover, so they take the risk to go to sea.”

After Wang Yan listened, he already understood in his heart that the Zheng family must be making trouble again, and Su Guansheng had already understood this point just after he finished speaking.

If it was an ordinary pirate, Wang Yan still had some confidence, but if it was the Zheng family, the overlord of the sea, with the strength of his navy, he was really no match.

For a moment, Wang Yan and Su Guansheng couldn't help falling into silence.

At this time, Yu Fangqi, a naval officer promoted by Wang Yangang, broke into the mansion wearing a tattered armor, and when he saw Wang Yan, he cried and said: "Master, the general is incompetent, and the rice grains that are going to be shipped to Qiongzhou , was robbed by pirates!"

Seeing Yu Fangqi's distressed appearance, Wang Yan already realized that something was wrong, but he didn't expect that the Zheng family would even dare to plunder the naval warships that were escorting the grain and grass, so he couldn't help feeling extremely hated.

"Qinyuan, don't blame yourself, this is not your fault!" Wang Yan tried his best to control his anger, and after clearing up his emotions, he decided to understand what happened first. "Rise up and speak, and tell me and Elder Su Ge the whole story of the incident!"

Yu Fangqi heard Wang Yanzhi's words, calmed down, got up and said: "The last general four days ago, took 50 large ships, loaded with [-] shi of rice and grain, and set sail to Qiongzhou. They are going to be delivered to Mr. Zhou to resettle the people, but I don't want the fleet Less than two days after leaving Guangzhou, they were surrounded by more than [-] pirate ships. The last general led the fleet to fight with the pirates. As a result, the pirates were far stronger than the last general, and they sank within a quarter of an hour Three warships. Seeing that they were invincible, the last general broke out with the remaining ships, but the pirates pursued them closely. The grain ships moved slowly, and almost all of them were captured. Only the last general brought ten fast boat and fled back to Guangzhou."

After Wang Yan listened, he exchanged a glance with Su Guansheng, and then confirmed his previous judgment even more, but there was no solution when he knew it, and there was anger in his heart, which was useless.

At this time, Wang Yan's mind was already full of anger, and he had no idea what to do. He urgently needed to calm himself down and think carefully about the countermeasures. He asked Yu Fangqi to go down to rest, and sent Su Guansheng away before returning to the study to think.

Zheng's strength at sea is enormous, and the sailors in his hands are no match in any case, and he will definitely not be able to go to sea to fight recklessly, but the 30 people who have just been sent to Qiongzhou Mansion are short of food and clothing. When supplies are sent to Shanghai Island, the people will inevitably suffer again.

Wang Yan couldn't help being caught in a dilemma. If he didn't go to sea, there would be a food shortage in Qiongzhou Prefecture;

Zheng's power is there, and the big merchants in Guangdong are obviously colluding with Zheng's, and they don't believe that he, the Duke of Chu in Guangdong, who is the headquarter, can compare with the Duke of Ping in Fujian.

For a moment, Wang Yan couldn't help being a little discouraged, so he had to go back to the backyard full of thoughts. Seeing his appearance, Xu Yanyan couldn't help asking each other, and Wang Yan followed the brief to tell.

Xu Yanyan listened, but cheered for Wang Yan and said: "Although Yanyan has no strategy to help Brother Wang defeat the pirates, she knows that as long as Brother Wang can solve this crisis, the situation in the Guangdong Sea will be smoother in the future. It will be completely opened, and all kinds of difficulties in opening up the sea and trade will be easily solved."

Hearing the words, Wang Yan couldn't help being taken aback, and immediately praised in his heart: "Yes~ Although the Zheng family created such a crisis for him this time, it is also an opportunity for him. Once he defeats the pirates, he will tell everyone that the South China Sea In fact, it's not the Zheng family who rule the world, he, the Cantonese navy, is also an existence that can be the master."

Before, Wang Yan was only afraid of the strength of Zheng's navy, but now that he wants to understand this, he can't help but cheer up again.

(End of this chapter)