The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 247 Pirate Empire Pirate Attack
Shuai Zeng, who was reporting the situation of Funan Kingdom to Sun Shao, suddenly shuddered.Sun Shao looked at him with concern: "What's wrong? Are you uncomfortable?"

Shuai Zengqiang laughed, looked around, and shook his head in doubt: "It's nothing, I suddenly felt something was wrong, as if there was a murderous intent."

Sun Shao was taken aback, and winked at Han Long who was standing behind him. Han Long turned around and went out to give some instructions. After a while, he returned to Sun Shao's side and shook his head.Sun Shao waved his hand, signaling him to back down.Shuai Zeng smiled awkwardly: "My lord, maybe I've stayed in Funan for too long, and I'm suspicious."

"It's not a bad thing to be careful." Sun Shao smiled: "Go on, what kind of person is Funan Wang Fan Man?"

Shuai Zeng took a sip of tea, calmed his mind, and continued: "Fan Man was originally the general of the old Wang Pan Kuang, and he fought with Pan Kuang for many years. The confidant of the eldest son, Pan Qing, did not get along well with Pan Pan. Some people said that Pan Pan's death was related to him. Three years ago, Pan Pan died unexpectedly, and Fan Man made himself king. In the past few years, he has conquered the north and south, and attacked Qu Du one after another. Kun, Jiuzhi, Dianxun, etc. are more than ten countries in size, with an area of ​​five or six thousand miles, and they are extremely warlike monarchs. The war against Rinan originated in Linyi, but the main promoter is the King of Funan."

"Really?" Sun Shao smiled: "How many troops does he have?"

"The total number is about [-] to [-]." Shuai Zeng said cautiously: "His soldiers and horses gather and disperse impermanently, and his standing army is [-] to [-]. But when there is a war, he will recruit troops from those small countries. The total should be [-]. Up and down. Among them, the most powerful are the three hundred elephant soldiers, which are his sharp weapons for winning every battle." Shuai Zeng paused for a moment, showing a worried look: "My lord, although these elephant soldiers are not fast, their impact is very powerful. If you don't prepare, the casualties will be staggering."

"Elephant soldiers? I know that Jianzhong captured two war elephants when he was in Lu Rongcheng. However, the three hundred elephant soldiers are really amazing." Sun Shao looked at Shuai Zeng with admiration in his eyes: "Your The news is very timely, but I didn't expect that he has so many elephant soldiers, and if he encounters them in a hurry, he will definitely suffer."

"Hey...my mission is to inquire about the deployment of the enemy's troops and prepare for the king's strategizing." Shuai Zeng smiled shyly: "By the way, the strongest on land in Funan is the elephant soldiers, and the strongest on the sea. The big one is their navy."

"Their navy?" Sun Shao said with great interest, "Talk about it, what is the difference between their navy and ours?"

……

Funan Wang Fan Man is over 60 years old this year. Although she is not tall, she is very strong. She has a dark and square face, two thick eyebrows, a pair of big eyes, a big nose, a wide mouth, and a silver beard floating on her chest. Before, it looked extremely mighty.A section of brocade was slanted across his upper body, and the gleaming brocade made him look rich and noble, and his exposed right shoulder was gleaming with knotted flesh.

Standing in front of him was a middle-aged man in his 40s, with short black hair, a ferocious face, and two big eyes shining brightly. He was Fan Man's nephew, Fan Zhan, and he was Fan Man's most capable fighter. A general, this time he just came back from Lin Yiguo to report the military situation to Fan Man.

"The King of Yue's army said they would come to conquer in the first half of the year, but they themselves are in a mess, and so far they haven't seen half a ship." Fan Zhan patted his bulging belly disdainfully: "They have a man surnamed Lu. General, but he is too stupid, he came to Xijuan City with only one month's rations, and the district company left him the empty city, and then attacked his ration road, but after two months, he collapsed by himself, and I gave up Xijuan and retreated to Jiuzhen."

"Oh?" Fan Man's eyes flashed, and she stared straight at Fan Zhan: "Since everything is going well, what are you doing when you come back?"

A flash of shame flashed in Fan Zhan's eyes, and he groaned twice: "Uncle, Qulian and the others are in trouble."

"What trouble, even you can't solve it?"

"pirate."

"Pirates?" Fan Man was stunned for a moment, her big hands with thick knuckles pinched the dagger at her waist, and her radiant eyes swept over Fan Zhan's face: "You mean, you have encountered pirates?"

"Yes." Fan Zhan nodded embarrassingly: "Two months ago, a group of pirates came from the east of Zhanghai (South China Sea). They attacked Da Nang and Lin Yiguo. They suffered heavy losses. Help. I sent three ships to hunt..."

"Have you caught up yet?" Fan Man shouted angrily, glanced at Fan Zhan, and sneered again: "Looking at you like this, you probably missed it."

"No...not chasing." Fan Zhan's black face was a little purple, he licked his thick lips, reached out to wipe his curly hair, and said in a voice so low that he could barely hear: "The three ships ...never came back."

Fan Man, who had just been turned away by him angrily, turned her head abruptly to stare at Fan Zhan when she heard it. It took a long time before she laughed, but there was nothing funny in that laugh, and Fan Zhan listened to it instead. Feeling cold all over the body: "The pirate is not caught, even the ship is gone? What kind of pirate is so powerful that even my navy in Funan Kingdom can't beat him?"

"No... I don't know." Fan Zhan's mouth seemed to be blocked, and he was vague.Fan Man was angry and funny. It was the first time he saw Fan Zhan like this. Of course, it was also the first time Fan Zhan had lost a battle after following him for so long. No wonder he was embarrassed.

"Then what did you do afterwards?" Fan Man calmed down, sat back on the throne made of jade, and looked at Fan Zhan calmly.Fan Zhan breathed out lightly, and continued: "I later sent people to raid several nearby islands and captured many pirates, but it was strange that none of the captured pirates admitted to attacking Linyi Kingdom. Among them, I did not find anything from Lin Yiguo. I interrogated those pirates in detail, and none of them had seen those pirates, but they provided a situation, saying that there were some pirates on several islands near Rinan County. But they haven't shown up in the past two months, nor have they gone fishing with them."

"Well, what then?" Fan Man's eyes flickered, she stroked her beard and fell silent, listening intently to every word Fan Zhan said.

"Later, I personally rushed to those islands to check, and I found that all the pirates on those islands had been killed, the pirate flags and ships were gone, and only a hundred corpses were left, buried in a In a big pit. It was buried very carefully, if we didn’t see a few wild dogs wandering around, we might not have found it.”

"I'm afraid it's not a pirate." Fan Man sneered: "When did you see pirates kill people and then bury them? More than 100 people were killed, and none slipped through the net. This guy with unknown origin is really scary."

"Exactly. That's why I dare not chase any more. Tell Ou Lian to be careful and rush back to report to the King."

"Could this group be Zhu Ya's sailors?" Fan Man pondered for a long time, then suddenly asked: "The Yue Kingdom has been clamoring for revenge, could it be their sailors who came to take revenge?"

"Impossible." Fan Zhan shook his head: "If it was the navy of Yue, why did they pretend to be pirates? And I have been paying attention to Zhuya's navy. The flags of the warships of Zhuya's navy are familiar to those pirates. , as long as they appear in Linyi, there is no reason for those pirates not to recognize them."

"Could it be King Yue's navy?" Fan Man said worriedly, "I heard that his navy is also very powerful."

"It's even more impossible." Fan Zhan laughed dumbly: "If the King of Yue came, would he still be so polite? He must have directly killed Rinan County and chopped off the head of that old man in Qulian. How could he be allowed to take back Xixi again? Juancheng. And I heard from a businessman from the Yue Kingdom that when his navy moves out, it makes such a huge noise that it is impossible to hide it from our eyes and ears."

Fan Man was silent.To be honest, he didn't believe that King Yue would really come to fight him for a few businessmen.The king of Yue sent an envoy, and he looked aggressive, but he didn't believe the envoy's words at all.Anyone with a brain would not believe these lies and big words.Don't talk about killing a few businessmen, what if you kill officials of the Han people?At worst, they would send a few people to question him, and as long as they said a few good words and gave some tribute, the matter would be over.The emperor of the Han people is too far away from here, they don't care about it at all. It is said that the Han people have been busy killing themselves these years, and countless people have died, let alone have time to take care of this place. Useless things dare to be king?
Although Fan Man had never been to the Han Dynasty, he was not ignorant of the Han Dynasty. He learned something about the Han Dynasty from those Han people who fled to Jiuzhen and Rinan, and also from the endless stream of merchants. The population knows the situation of the Han Dynasty, and he knows that the Han Dynasty is no longer that powerful Han Dynasty, and it is not worth fearing at all.The Han people are best at killing each other. General Fubo, who once killed Jiaozhi, died miserably in the end. Although the current King Yue and King Wu are uncles and nephews, they are life and death enemies.

The King of Yue would not really come to fight him.

Fan Man believed Fan Zhan's words, and he was very unhappy. He conquered so many countries, established a huge kingdom, and also conquered a vast sea.Pirates can exist, but they must be under his jurisdiction and obey his words. If he lets them live, they can live. If he lets them die, then they must die.

"How many troops do you need to destroy those pirates?"

In fact, Fan Zhan had already thought about it on the way, but he still thought about it to make himself look more stable: "Twenty warships, twenty supply ships, within a month, I will definitely be able to get those disobedient pirates cut off his head."

"Don't take it lightly." Fan Man glared at Fan Zhan expressionlessly: "These people who can kill more than 100 pirates quietly and then attack Da Nang under your noses are by no means mediocre, maybe they are habitual. Pirates, you have to be careful. I will give you [-] warships, [-] supply ships, three months, and you can tie these pirates in front of me before the new year."

"Yes." Fan Zhan was overjoyed, and immediately knelt in front of Fan Man and kissed Fan Man's shoes.Thirty warships means 3000 warriors, plus more than 7000 men under him, he now has nearly [-] armed forces, and he is the strongest under Fan Man's men. Even Fan Man's sons Not as good as him.He felt great trust and love from it.

"Go teach those ignorant pirates a lesson." Fan Man leaned down and kissed Fan Zhan's forehead, "God Shiva will bless you well."

……

Cui Qian stepped on the solid deck with bare feet, looked down at the barbarian merchants kneeling in front of him in fear, weighed the Roman gold coins in his hand, and cursed: "This King of Funan is so brave, he dares to sit on the ground and raise the price. Just walk on his ground, and the price has doubled? Dare to block my way of getting rich, I think he is really tired of living." He kicked the barbarian merchant: "You are really from Daqin ?”

"Yes, yes, I am really a businessman from Daqin." The barbarian merchant with a high nose was sweating profusely, kowtowing repeatedly on the deck, which made Cui Qian very worried that his nose would hit the deck first.

"Get up first." Cui Qian threw the gold coin in front of him: "This...you keep it."

"No, no, no." Yi Shang was so frightened that his pale face turned even paler, and he took out a large handful of gold coins from his pocket tremblingly: "These...these are all for you, all for you, I just beg you to spare... spare my life!"

His Chinese was not good at all, and when he spoke slowly, he could barely hear it clearly, but Cui Qian couldn't understand a word when he was nervous.But looking at him like that, Cui Qian also knew that he was buying his life with money.After all, Cui Qian was also a pirate before he became a general, and he did this kind of thing a lot.

"Hehehe..." Cui Qian glanced at the gold coins with some reluctance: "Get up, I won't take your money, you collect the money, and go to Zhuya to trade." Cui Qian waved his hand, signaling that When the barbarian got up, the barbarian rolled his two gray eyes and looked at Cui Qian and the others in horror. When he found that although Cui Qian and the others looked fierce, their expressions were very different from those of common pirates. It was only then that I gradually believed the interpreter's words. Although these people looked like pirates, they were not pirates.

"Go to Zhuya, when you come back, there will be no pirates here." Cui Qian laughed, turned and entered the cabin.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Yi Shang was so grateful that he didn't dare to pick up the gold coins scattered on the ground, picked up his robe, and left in a hurry.As soon as he got on the boat, he pulled up the sail and ran away like flying.

Cui Yan looked at the gold coins on the deck, shook her head with a wry smile, picked them up one by one, and followed them into the cabin: "General, the barbarians have left, what should I do with the money?"

Cui Qian glanced at him: "It's divided among the brothers. Let them have a good rest and go to Da Nang at night."

Cui Yan smiled, tossed the gold coins in her hand, and said with some puzzlement: "I just went to Da Nang two months ago, why go to Da Nang again?"

"Go get some food, replenish some fresh water, and then we'll head south." Cui Qian said without turning his head while lying on the chart. "This bullshit King of Funan dares to dominate the South China Sea. He really doesn't know the heights of heaven and earth. Let's teach him a lesson and let him know what a navy is."

"To the south, where to go south?"

"Are you stupid at Zhuya?" Cui Qian yelled impatiently: "We are pirates now, where can pirates go? Wherever we can rob, we will go there. Why are you asking so many questions? ?”

Cui Yan was startled, one of the gold coins fell from his hand, and he didn't dare to pick it up, so he turned around and left the cabin.The gold coins rolled across the deck, making a "quack" sound, and rolled all the way to Cui Qian's feet.Cui Qian bent down, picked up the gold coin, looked at the portrait on it, and said with a grin: "Hey, since the king trusts me so much and entrusts me with such an important task, don't mess up this shit Funan Kingdom. What else do I call a life-threatening sign? To be a pirate, who else is better than me besides the king?" He raised his head, looked at the vast expanse of blue sea outside, and sighed with emotion: "I have been holding back for several years, and finally We're going to go to sea, if we don't make a big fuss, wouldn't the fisherman for the past few years be in vain?"

In the middle of the night, Da Nang was peaceful and quiet. The boat that was broken during the attack two months ago had been cleaned up, and the corpses had been dragged away. The blood had long been washed away by the sea.Hundreds of merchant ships are moored in the harbor, and the lights twinkle like stars in the dark night.Holding the spears in their hands, the two Linyi soldiers cursed angrily as they watched the singing and dancing coming from the brightly lit fort on the hillside.Since being attacked by a group of unknown pirates, Da Nang has issued a ban on martial law, and no one is allowed to neglect, but these bans are only effective for ordinary soldiers, and have no effect on Prince Ouliang of Linyi Kingdom.

Since the former prince Ou Chu died in Rinan, Ou Liang became the prince logically, and became the most powerful person in Linyi Kingdom besides the king Qulian.He was ordered to guard Da Nang, but he actually took the opportunity to blackmail the merchants. Those who give him benefits are good people, and those who do not give benefits are pirate spies. Half of the hundreds of ships detained in this harbor cannot afford to pay. Withheld for huge bribes.

Of course, there are also some businessmen from Vietnam.

The merchants of Yue State were originally the most popular merchants. They not only had exquisite goods and fair prices, but also were kind.The most important thing is that they don't regard these soldiers of Linyi Kingdom as outsiders. They say that Linyi Kingdom was originally a big Han like them, and everyone speaks the same words and wears the same clothes. Yi County, but they are still willing to treat these soldiers as their own and sell goods at a relatively low price.However, things have changed since several businessmen were killed in Funan in the early years. Lin Yiguo ordered heavy taxes on Yue merchants, and their attitude has obviously become very bad. Yue merchants are no longer so friendly to Linyi soldiers. Kindly, if possible, they try to avoid staying in Da Nang, if not, they hide in an inconspicuous corner.But the soldiers of Lin Yiguo could see the anger in their silent eyes, they always felt that these businessmen would not give up.

Soon, news came that the King of Yue sent envoys to question the King of Funan, and then there were rumors that the diplomacy broke down and the King of Yue would send troops to conquer the Kingdom of Funan.Hearing this news, not only the soldiers of Linyi Kingdom found it ridiculous, but even the businessmen of Yue Kingdom were somewhat discouraged.They know the situation of Funan Kingdom, and they also know the situation of Yue Kingdom. The military strength of Funan Kingdom is at least three times that of Yue Kingdom. How can Yue Kingdom be the opponent of Funan Kingdom?The King of Yue was the same as the former Han court, he just talked about it and took care of himself. He would not really start a war with Funan Kingdom just because of the death of a few businessmen.

There has never been such a thing in all dynasties.

The merchants don't resent the King of Yue, the King of Yue has treated them very well. The status of the merchants of the Yue Kingdom has never been imagined before. They are willing to think of the King of Yue. It's not that the King of Yue doesn't want to avenge them. insufficient.Besides, they themselves don't think that the death of a few people is worth the war between the two countries. If there is a war, they worry that it will become an excuse for the court to increase taxes.

Seeing the merchants from the Yue Kingdom who had been smiling the most became increasingly depressed, the soldiers of the Linyi Kingdom could only express their sympathy.Besides, it would be nice to be able to blackmail the rich Yue businessmen after the chief. Although they could make profits in the past, it was not as cheap as the ones they robbed.

The sound of "squeaking" water never tires, two Lin Yiguo soldiers sniffled, sat on the pier, paddled their feet in the water.The sea water at night is very cool, which can refresh people and drive away heavy drowsiness.

"Hey, did you catch any good things today?" the soldier with triangular eyes asked his companion while sniffling.The companion didn't answer him, and it was quiet around him, except for the sound of the waves, there was no sound.He turned his head and glanced dissatisfied, and was suddenly taken aback. The place where there should have been companions was empty.He froze for a moment, and was about to get up when suddenly his ankle tightened, and a force came from the water, dragging him down abruptly.

Kraken?He was so frightened that his hair stood on end, he raised his spear and stabbed into the water.Something grabbed the spear and pulled it downward.Before he knew it, he was being dragged into the water, and the harsh, salty water poured into his mouth and into his lungs, but he soon stopped feeling it.A sharp dagger sliced ​​through his neck, ending his pain.

Before his consciousness faded, he seemed to see two men climbing ashore, holding the spears that belonged to him and his companion, who was at his side, with the terrified face close at hand.

After a while, the two soldiers on guard complained softly as they walked towards the hut on duty.When we got to the door, the hut opened, and a shirtless soldier walked out while lifting his trousers, cursing in his mouth: "You two guys, every time you get on duty, you always come late, but when you get off duty But it's very early, you think I'm easy to talk, so you can take advantage of me for nothing?"

The two soldiers squeezed past him without making a sound, one entered the room, but the other suddenly turned around, covered his mouth from behind, and then a dagger was slashed across him. Blood gushed out of his neck, and all his strength was lost in an instant. He turned softly in a circle and fell to the ground, staring at the two companions who had just arrived and the companion who was still in the room with wide eyes. One by one the necks were cut off.

Soon, the iron chain protecting the port was pulled up, and ten warships broke through the darkness, quickly crossed the iron chain, and entered the port.

(End of this chapter)