Last month, Mao Wenlong sent Kuo Ke to the capital. Because this person was Huang Taiji's confidant Niu Lu, Jinyiwei asked many valuable confessions from him. Soon, the imperial court issued a general commendation to Mao Wenlong. It also approved the Huang Zhongse Geological Survey and admitted that there were as many as 36,000 soldiers in Dongjiang Town. However, due to the problem of Liao Town, the court could not give Dongjiang Town full military pay for the time being. These 36,000 soldiers were paid monthly in silver. It was still half of the land in Liao Town, that is, seven qian per person, and 240,000 taels were paid to Dongjiang Town for the whole year. After waiting for this result, Mao Wenlong scolded the household department in the Tang newspaper for being too unconscionable. He first claimed that he had no idea why the land in Dongjiang Town was It is completely incomprehensible that the soldiers can only receive half of the military pay. Secondly, Mao Wenlong revealed that Huang Zhongse only ordered 36,000 soldiers from Dongjiang Island and regarded them as the number of the whole town. He insisted on sending people from the Ministry of Household Affairs to Lushun, Jinzhou, and Changsheng Island, Gaizhou, Fuzhou, Tieshan, Kuandian, etc. were reviewed again. Mao Wenlong claimed that only giving land and half-pay to 36,000 people would starve hundreds of thousands of people in Dongjiang, so he firmly opposed moving the town to Gaizhou. In view of Mao Wenlong's reaction being too strong, the imperial court decided to suspend the discussion on moving the town and allowed Mao Wenlong to continue to sit in Liaodong, and the North Korean tribute road was still located in Dongjiang. Of course, the North Korean side was very dissatisfied with this, and the North Korean king once again sent an envoy to complain to the Ming Dynasty. According to It was the practice of the Ming Dynasty that tribute was paid in return of land, but in the past eight years Mao Wenlong only gave half of the land in return to North Korea. In the past two years, even this half of the land in return was paid by Mao Wenlong with Ming Dynasty treasure money. However, the cabinet minister believed that Dongjiang Town It was more important than North Korea, so I could only use good words to appease the North Korean envoys, and the matter of moving the town finally came to nothing. ¡ September 10, Xiapu, Fujian Fujian is probably the province with the most lack of poor fishermen in the entire Ming Dynasty. With Huangshi offering high wages, Yu Zigao quickly raised another navy. When the Penghu Navy was abolished, some people did not become pirates but returned home to farm. Now I heard that Funing Town was reorganized. After the Navy, these people rushed to join the army one after another. In the past six months, the Funing Town Military Industry Department has been working hard to produce cannons, producing a total of 520 nine-pounders and more than 150 12-pounders. Even the eighteen-pounder cannons have been produced in excess of a dozen. The current fifty warships of the Funing Army are all equipped with multiple cannons. The forty small ships have four or five, and the ten large ships have twenty. The naval artillery crew of the Funing Army adopts a ten-man system. In order to control these artillery pieces, Huangshi also urgently trained more than 3,000 water warfare artillerymen. Of course, the quality of these people is not up to standard. Although the water warfare artillerymen are not of high quality, Fu Ning The Ning Army's tradition of large artillery crews has helped a lot with this problem. After all, the artillery crew of ten people is still more powerful than the number of people. Yu Zigao said that the current shooting speed and accuracy of each gun can be considered barely passing, but Fu What Ning Jun lacks most is not sailors but captains. Although Kuroshima Kazuo and Shi Ce provided some sailors and captains, Yu Zigao believed that those captains were only suitable for the work of smugglers and transport ship captains. Most of the existing captains were Yu Zigao urgently promoted the veterans. In Yu Zigao's words, no matter how hard you train, you can't solve the captain's actual combat problems. Qualified naval forces still have to rely on fighting. The navy in Funing Town is certainly hurtful. thinking, but the overall situation in Fujian Province has stabilized. In the past eight months, the Funing Town Headquarters has worked overtime to train soldiers. Now the number of officers and soldiers in the 6th battle in Fujian has reached nearly 30,000. In all places with more than 1,000 soldiers, In all the conflicts, the pirates failed without exception. In one of the battles, a unit of the Panshi Battalion fought against more than 3,000 pirates. In the end, Zheng Yiguan's army still suffered a defeat. Now the pirates have completely given up. With regular battlefield ideas, they concentrated on fighting guerrillas with the officers and soldiers. Since the Chief Secretary of Fujian Province flatly rejected Zheng Yiguan's recruitment request in March this year, the pirates knew that they were planning to fight for a long time, so they began to reserve reserves in their overseas strongholds. Food and supplies, while the Chief Secretary of Fujian and the Funing Army are also implementing increasingly strict maritime bans tit for tat. "Commander, the martial law orders in various coastal areas have basically been implemented to the letter." A staff officer said. In August, the report was submitted to Huangshi for review. In order to cut off supplies from the pirates, the Chief Secretary of Fujian had ordered fishermen along the coast to suspend fishing and absolutely prohibited any ships from going to sea. After Zheng Yiguan¡¯s request for recruitment was rejected at first, the Fujian Sea The other pirates looked on as if they were joking, thinking that this was the Zheng family's own business. They felt that he had made too much trouble, so they angered the Chief Secretary of Fujian. During this period, several pirates even sent people to Funing Town explored the issue of recruitment, hoping to take the opportunity to wear tiger skin and transform from pirates to officers and soldiers of Funing Town. But to their surprise, the attitude of Huang Shidi, the commander-in-chief of Funing Town, was unusually tough. The Chief Secretary of Fujian and Funing Town publicly announced several times in succession that the imperial court would only accept the surrender of the pirates and would never recruit them. If the pirate leaders surrendered early, they could receive amnesty, but their ships would all be confiscated, and the troops must also accept Funing Town. The reorganization will definitely not reward the pirate leaders with official positions. This kind of obscene attitude gradually made the pirates wake up. This time, the officers and soldiers had the idea of ????catching them all, so even Zheng YiLiu Xiangqi, an old enemy of the country, put aside his personal grudges and went to Xiamen to join forces with Zheng Jun. The reason why Huang Shi behaved so toughly was mainly because he was unwilling to repeat Xiong Wencan's mistakes. Historically, Xiong Wencan clothed Zheng Yiguan. Hupi. In the past ten years, he used the power of Funing Town to wipe out all the Fujian pirates in the mainland, including Liu Xiangqi, forming a situation where one family dominated the land. In the end, Funing Town could no longer control Zheng Yiguan. In Huang Shi's view, the strategy of using pirates to suppress pirates is nothing more than driving Zheng Yiguan away and turning him into Wang Yiguan and Li Yiguan. Therefore, he is determined to form an army of officers and soldiers who are completely under the control of Funing Town. The navy pursues a hard line of never compromising against the pirates. Zhu Yifeng of Fujian had quarreled with him several times over this, but the two of them are now grasshoppers on the same rope. Since they can't be as stubborn as Huangshi, Zhu Yifeng can't. We had no choice but to compromise. Among the nearly 36,000 officers and soldiers in Fujian Province, 20,000 officers and soldiers belong to the fire-fighting, Panshi, Selection, and Tianyi 4th Camp field troops, and the remaining 10,000 officers and soldiers are coastal defense troops. Funing Town will produce A large number of nine-pounders were transported to major ports in Fujian, and coastal defense forts were established one after another. Like the navy, the artillery of the Sixth Army in Funing Town was also the fastest-growing arm. In just a few months, Funing Town had The coastal defense artillery force has more than 2,000 people. It has exceeded one-tenth of the coastal defense force. Huangshi's strategy is to establish a series of coastal defense strongholds and use these strongholds to monitor river estuaries and other points suitable for coastal defense. They mainly rely on Artillery fire for self-defense, a small group of pirates can't do anything to them, even if they have the ability to persist for a period of time in front of a large group of pirates. In this way, the four camp field armies in Funing Town can be deployed on the second line, so that they can get time to rest, and they can Attack at any time to rescue those strongholds attacked by large groups of pirates. In May, Zheng Yiguan and Liu Xiangqi jointly attacked the official and military strongholds near Zhangzhou. As a result, they were far away from eating the turtle shells of the officers and soldiers. They were stationed in Tianyi, Zhangzhou As soon as the battalion heard that the police arrived, the pirates who landed on the ground had no choice but to fall into the sea again and flee. Since the Fujian Chief Secretary and Funing Town issued an uncompromising declaration, the rapid development of the pirates has been controlled to a certain extent, and even There were also some former Funing officers and soldiers who were among the pirates who also sneaked home, and then defected to the newly built Funing Navy. They went everywhere just to make a living, since the court seemed unwilling to pardon the pirates. , then some of them are naturally unwilling to hang out in a place without a future. "Well, very good." Huang Shi was very satisfied after reading this report. In the past few months, the Funing Army has set up operations along the coast of the continent. There are more and more coastal warning posts, but the total number of incidents of prohibited seagoing incidents they have discovered is getting smaller and smaller. According to the report of the Military Intelligence Department, the pirates' food reserves entrenched in Xiamen, Tongshan and other islands have been maintained for three consecutive years. There is no increase in the number of months, and perhaps the reversal will occur soon. Zhu Yifeng originally planned to use administrative orders to force coastal people to move inland. Apart from not killing people, Huangshi felt that the entire plan was no different from the Manchu Sea Ban. So. At that time, he asked Zhu Yifeng what to do if there were fishermen who stayed in their homes and refused to leave, and Zhu Yifeng's answer was to send out the army to demolish their houses and then escort them in as thieves. Huangshi firmly opposed this plan. Because many Fujian fishermen make a living by fishing, forcing them to move inland will make their wives and children starve. Huang Shi believed that this would definitely drive a large number of good people to the pirates, so he promoted it to Zhu Yifeng. In his theory of "righteous people", Huang Shi defined all the local fishermen who responded to the call of the Chief Secretary of Fujian to evacuate inland as "righteous people", and then withdrew money from the Jinghai Big Loan to feed them and their families. Zhu Yifeng immediately I feel that Huangshi has become unreasonable. Once this plan is implemented, the demolition fee will be calculated at 100,000 taels: "If the pirates cannot be pacified in one month, Huang Shuai plans to support them for one month. If the pirates cannot be pacified in two months, Huang Shuai plans to support them." Are you going to take care of them for two months? " "Yes, if it doesn't work out in one year, just feed it for one year. If it doesn't work out in two years, then feed it for two years." "How much money will it cost?" At least fifty thousand taels of silver a month." "Let's calculate it as one hundred thousand taels." Huang Shi doubled the number with one mouth. He did not intend to just give the fishermen a living: "They are all righteous people, we want to Let them eat better than usual. The Chief Secretary of Fujian should not do this. I, Funing Town, will be responsible for this, lest anyone take the opportunity to prey on the people." "Huang Shuai, we don't have that much money! " "borrow! " Seeing Zhu Yifeng's face turn pale, Huang Shi reminded loudly without giving up: "Master Zhu, if these people can't eat, they will join the pirates, or have liaison with the pirates to sell them food, or a large amount of food. We ran to tip off the pirates Then we can't even think about Jinghai for two years. If we can't Jinghai, we can't collect Jinghai taxes! As long as the Jinghai tax can be collected, we can pay it back even if we borrow more money now. If we can't collect the Jinghai tax, we can't pay it back no matter how little we borrow! ¡± ¡ By early September of the first year of Chongzhen, Zhu Yifeng from Quanzhou sent someone to inform Huangshi that he had sold out all the third batch of 1 million Jinghai bonds. So far,So far, Jinghai Big Loan has borrowed a total of 2.5 million taels of silver. "That's great." After hearing the good news, Huang Shi was so happy that he let out a sigh of relief. He had previously borrowed 1.5 million taels of silver. Huangshi had almost spent all the money. Zhu Yifeng finally reluctantly agreed to release compensation money to the people. After the Chief Secretary of Fujian issued a notice to calm the people, the Funing Army took action according to Huangshi's orders. Any fishermen along the coast who were willing to cooperate If they want to move, the Funing Army will buy their fishing boats and farmhouses at high prices. The dilapidated fishing boats will be calculated according to the new land price, the thatched houses will be calculated as earth houses, and the earth houses will be calculated as brick houses. After these residents move inland, Funing Town will also give them to them. Each person has a set of citizen certificates. With this certificate, they can go to the designated point to collect money every month, regardless of men, women, old or young, one coin per month. As a result, not only the fishermen in the areas to be relocated in the plan enthusiastically responded to the inward relocation Even the people in the area deemed safe by Funing Town strongly demanded to move to a "safer" place. After Funing Town rejected their request, some excited people even moved to Funing Town. Demonstration took place in front of the stronghold in Ningzhen, and the garrison had to persuade them to send them away. "General, the people of Fujian resolutely support our army. The manpower supply of the pirates is almost cut off. With the support of the people, the pirates are now ready." It has become very conspicuous, and the intelligence of the pirates should have been almost interrupted in the past two months." "Of course, if it were not forced by hunger and cold, who among the people would be willing to go against the government?" Huang Shi was not surprised at all by this outcome. The common people have always been timid. How can they dare to compete with the imperial army unless they have to? ¡°Another staff officer reported to Huangshi with a serious face: There is a new problem, which is very serious.¡± ¡°Oh? What's the problem?" Huang Shi, accompanied by several staff officers and Yu Zigao, inspected his own warships. The wood on the bottom of the ship had begun to deform. This batch of ships made of fresh wood has only been used to train a few Yue, there is no earth load at all, but it is close to disintegration. Yu Zigao patted the side of the boat, and the wood on it was also slightly deformed: "Commander, this boat will fall apart in two months at most. "It seems that we have to build new ships." "Commander, I finally feel that it is the time to attack Xiamen." Yu Zigao pointed to the fifty warships moored in the port, most of which were Most of the ships built with fresh wood cannot last more than three months: "While they can still be used, let's fight against the pirates. If we win, won't we save the need to build new ships?" "This idea makes Huang Shi quite excited. Once the ship is built, it will be a large sum of money. Even if the pirates are not completely eliminated this time, as long as Xiamen can be recovered, the forbidden sea area can be greatly reduced. This further The cost is hundreds of thousands of taels of silver: "However, it costs a lot of money to train the navy and cast cannons. If we lose, we will lose more than just a few ships. General Yu is sure of victory. ? "Don't worry, Commander. The last time we lost to Zheng Kou, it was because our military preparedness was weak. This time we will have 10,000 naval troops and so many warships. It will be easy to deal with Zheng Kou." Yu Zigao looked confident. It sounds like he doesn't think highly of Zheng Yiguan. However, Huang Shi thinks highly of Zheng Yiguan. He hesitated and asked: "Old General Yu, didn't you say that our captain was not good last time? " "With the general here, our captains and sailors are about the same. Most of the thieves and bandits under Zheng Kou were trained by the general. Doesn't the general know their details? He looked confident. Seeing that Huang Shi was still hesitating, he couldn't help but get angry: "Could it be that the commander-in-chief can't trust the general?" " In the end, Huangshi agreed to Yu Zigao's plan and gave him full command of all 10,000 sailors. In addition to the fifty warships, Huangshi also allocated all the twenty sea ships he bought without reservation. Go to Yu Zigao's account and listen. Yu Zigao's plan is to first transfer the navy from northern Fujian to Quanzhou, and then station it in Zhangzhou. After the navy wins the naval battle, the Panshi Battalion will be transported to Xiamen to board 6. Yu Zigao is in charge After the team left, Huang Shi still felt a little worried. For him, a person from a battlefield without access to water, the pressure Zheng Yiguan gave him was no worse than that of Huang Taiji back then: "It's so depressing. After traveling to this era, I first had to fight with Huang Taiji. After fighting 6 battles, I finally managed to get ahead, and I was forced to play naval battle with Zheng Yiguan.¡± But Yu Zigao was also a famous navy general of the generation. A few years ago, the Ming Dynasty Fujian Navy was also famous, and Huangshi passed two After days of being on tenterhooks, I finally figured it out: "Oh, I don't want to think nonsense anymore. Let's let these professionals make the judgment. Regarding Zheng Yiguan's ability, Yu Zigao must have more say than me." ¡ At the end of September, Mao Wenlong sent his subordinate Su Wanliang and others to Liaoyang. Three months after the first negotiation broke down, Mao Wenlong once again took the initiative to extend a "hand of friendship" to Huang Taiji, saying that he would rebuild relations with Huang Taiji. "Old good". Peace negotiations are launched again. As for the last Dikuoke incident, Mao Wenlong is hereThe letter gave a formal explanation. He said: "Kuo Ke and others "accidentally entered" the grain ship of the Ministry of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty. As a result, they were kidnapped by Huang Zhongse by accident. However, he, Mao Wenlong, was a very good person. A righteous man, he paid 40,000 taels of silver to the ministers of the DPRK and China with his own money afterwards, which suppressed Kuo Ke's death sentence. Mao Wenlong also assured Huang Taiji that once the time was right, he would definitely come forward to remove Kuo Ke from Jinyiwei Town and Fusi. Fished out of the underground edict prison. Mao Wenlong said that he did not want this episode to affect the trust between Dongjiang Town and Houjin. He also hoped that Huang Taiji could quickly send an envoy to Dongjiang Island again to discuss peace issues. ¡¡ On the 25th of the month, Xiapu, Fujian, Yu Zigao immediately sent someone to report the news to the headquarters camp after landing at the port. He first took a bath with water, then put on a new set of clean clothes, and also put on a neat military uniform and armor. . One of Yu Zigao's soldiers urged uneasily: "Sir, let's go see Huang Shuai quickly, don't let him wait too long." "There is no difference." Although Yu Zigao said so He said, but his men moved faster. He wiped his helmet until it was shiny, and combed his head and beard neatly. Yu Zigao sighed: "When a gentleman dies, he will inevitably be crowned. Anyway, my life is also where Huang Shuaibao came from, anyway. It can be considered that he died a few months late." When Yu Zigao and his small group of soldiers walked outside the headquarters camp, after hearing the news, Huang Shi had already rushed out with his guards to greet them. Before Yu Zigao could say anything, Huang Shi He just jumped over and held Yu Zigao's shoulders: "I hope Old General Yu is safe, I hope Old General Yu is safe." Huang Shi looked Yu Zigao up and down again, then took his hand and said: "Old General Yu, please hurry up. I have asked people to prepare wine, food and hot water. You should take a shower first, and then the food will be hot." This move made Yu Zigao more and more uneasy, and he took two steps back. He bowed to apologize and said: "Commander, I will eventually lose the troops. Please punish me, Commander-in-Chief." "First take a bath and eat, and then we will talk slowly. We will talk slowly." This time Yu Zigao led the navy southward. , the navy in Funing Town was quickly discovered by the pirate group. After the navy arrived in Zhangzhou, the pirates also completed their assembly and quickly came to challenge. Before the battle, Zheng Yiguan, Liu Xiangqi and other Fujian giant bandits tried their best to fight. The subordinates encouraged them and told them that this was an important battle for the recruitment of safe land. The pirates believed that the government refused to compromise because the government believed that it could rely on the Funing Town Navy to regain control of the sea. Therefore, as long as the Funing Town Navy was defeated, it would be easy for the government to regain control of the sea. Reconsider the strategic issue. The leaders repeatedly emphasized to the pirates that as long as they can win this battle, there will no longer be a dead end for them. Their propaganda has greatly boosted the morale of the pirates. And recently In the past few months, the pirates have encountered obstacles on the 6th coast. They have been holding back their anger from top to bottom, but Funing Town Navy has been unable to come out in northern Fujian. So they have nothing to vent their anger on. This time, we see After arriving at the main force of the navy in Funing Town, the pirates were also gearing up to show off their skills. On the other hand, Yu Zigao had been a general for generations and was a veteran of the military. He looked down on these pirates from the bottom of his heart. He always blamed the last disastrous defeat on the imperial court's reduction of naval funds. This time Yu Zigao had a large army under his command, so when he saw the pirates gathering, not only did he not push forward, but he actively accepted the opponent's challenge. Zheng Yiguan, Liu Xiangqi and others dispatched large warships, including Western giants, to fight against the Funing Town Navy. In the stage of long-range bombardment with naval guns, the officers and soldiers did not suffer much. After all, Funing Town's fleet had a total of With more than 400 cannons and nearly 3,000 gunners, coupled with the long distance and the psychological relaxation, they relied on the large number of people and the large number of artillery to fight the pirates. But after the pirates dispatched the arson boats, the Funing Army began to struggle. , most of the gunners were unable to prevent the enemy from approaching due to reasons such as nervousness and poor technical skills. The pirates were holding back their anger to let the government know how powerful they were, and most of the officers and soldiers did not have this fighting will, so they waited until the pirates When a large number of small boats rushed up to join the battle, Funing's army collapsed. Relying on Yu Zigao's many years of experience in commanding naval battles, he immediately ordered a retreat when he saw that something was going wrong. Yu Zigao saw that the pirates seemed to think that the officers and soldiers would escape back. Zhangzhou, so he commanded the entire army to run northward desperately. Although he was chased and beaten by pirates again, he still led some ships to successfully escape from the battlefield. ¡°Our army lost a total of four large ships and eleven small ships. "The officers and soldiers lost more than 3,000 people, and the twenty ships given by your Majesty were all robbed by thieves." Finally, he said with a gloomy look: "The general should have committed suicide, but he always wanted to report the gains and losses to the general." Handsome" "Fortunately, fortunately! It is a great blessing for our army that General Yu can come back safely." Huang Shi quickly comforted Yu Zigao. He listened to the whole battle from beginning to end. It seemed that the main problem was the experience and fighting spirit of the officers and soldiers, in addition to the artillery. The power of the ground is not strong enough. Although Yu Zigao made mistakes such as underestimating the enemy, it seems that his command ability is not at a disadvantage. "Don't worry, Old General Yu.I will find a way to save the money and the ship. Soon General Yu will be able to fight the pirates again, so don't worry." The more polite Huang Shi said, the more uneasy Yu Zigao felt: "Commander "In the army, meritorious deeds must be rewarded, and faults must be corrected, so that" "Old General Yu, to be honest, I don't know how to fight at sea. All I can do is think of ways to cast cannons and build ships. Everything else is all It's up to General Yu." What Huang Shi said was indeed the truth. It would be unreasonable for him to command the navy to fight Zheng Yiguan. And other people under him probably don't have this ability, such as He Dingyuan and so on. There is no difference between letting them command the navy and murder. "Old General Yu. My future and life in Huangshi, the life and death of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in Funing Town, and the safety and welfare of millions of elders in Fujian Province all depend on Mr. Yu." General, I will leave for Quanzhou to discuss the money issue with Mr. Zhu. I will definitely be able to rebuild the navy. General Yu doesn¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± ¡°The commander-in-chief is serious. I will definitely work harder to train the navy.¡± They were sent off. After Yu Zigao, Huang Shi called Shi Ce again. This time he arranged for Shi Ce to be on the same boat as Yu Zigao so that he could observe and learn Yu Zigao's command at a close distance. Huang Shi sent away the irrelevant people and asked bluntly: " Brother Shi, do you think General Yu's defeat this time was due to his ability, or to underestimating the enemy's mood, sailor experience, and artillery quality? " Shi Ce seemed to have been prepared for this problem. He blurted out without thinking: "Underestimating the enemy, too underestimated the enemy. In the past, I had dismissed the pirates during training, and after dispatching troops, I felt that the pirates would disperse as soon as the officers and soldiers arrived. " "Isn't it a question of ability? " Shi Ce replied resolutely: "Absolutely not." "That's good." In addition to Shi Ce, Huangshi also placed internal guards, loyal patriotic Catholics and werewolves from Funing Town (formerly the werewolves from Changsheng Island) in the fleet. They each wrote an analysis report on the defeat. After Huang Shi read it, he handed it over to the staff department to prepare naval regulations, and then set off for Quanzhou. ¡ On the 27th, in Quanzhou, Zhu Yifeng heard that the navy suffered a disastrous defeat and the fleet was defeated. , after the sailor lost 30%, the tea cup in his hand suddenly slipped and fell into millions of pieces. He opened his mouth for a long time and couldn't say a word. "Master Zhu, Master Zhu, Master Zhu" It took Huang Shi a long time to call. Even if it brings back Zhu Yifeng's soul, the governor of Fujian feels that the nightmare he has been having these days has become a reality. If he could turn back time, he would rather let Xiong Wencan come to take over this mess in March. "Huang Shuai, we should consider recruiting An An." Right." "Why do you want to recruit people? We should rebuild the navy and send troops to wipe out the pirates again." "Butbut this will take several months. During this period, we have to support and relocate a large number of people. I'm afraid we won't have enough money." "No, I'm afraid. It's definitely not enough." Huang Shi coldly broke Zhu Yifeng's fantasy. He had already settled the accounts before coming to Quanzhou. Huang Shi threw the account book in front of Zhu Yifeng with a wave of his hand. The latter opened it hurriedly and looked at it. Looking at his forehead, he began to sweat. "It will take about six months to rebuild the navy. The monthly military and civilian maintenance costs are 150,000 taels of silver. In six months, it is 900,000. But now it is light and bright. We have such a huge amount of money in our accounts." Zhu Yifeng looked at it, and Huang Shi reported the numbers to him: "And to rebuild the Navy, we still need to build ships, cast cannons, and consume ammunition. Training, well, it will probably cost another 500,000 taels of silver. If we expect the enemy to be lenient, let's sell another one million taels of bonds." Zhu Yifeng looked up at Huang Shi pitifully, and did not squeeze out a word for a long time. Huang Shi knew the meaning behind this look, so he encouraged him: "Master Zhu, now that the pirates are more arrogant, they are bound to make demands for sea tax land. If we don't agree, we will definitely not be able to recruit them. If we agree How can we pay back the Jinghai tax if we don¡¯t have it? " Zhu Yifeng also knew that he was riding a tiger and it was difficult to get off. He and Huang Shi jointly submitted a letter to protect Yu Zigao, and also persuaded the Chief Secretary of Fujian to guarantee Jinghai's large loan. In the past few months, there was a sea ban and military training. Such a big fuss has occurred Dongjing still owes so much money. If the recruitment is finally settled, I'm afraid it won't just be the end of his official career, but the loss of his head. After a moment of weakness, Zhu Yifeng gritted his teeth, his eyes like gambling. He blushed like a disciple: "Huang Shuai, this time I just underestimated the enemy. It's not that Yu Zigao is incompetent, or that the pirates are too difficult to deal with. Right?" " "Yes." "Okay! Zhu Yifeng slapped the table hard: "Then sell the bonds. This time, I will also engrave my name on it. I will also borrow it with Huang Shuai in the name of my parents' official land in Fujian!" " "There is also the issue of Di newspapers." During the Ming Dynasty, all provinces began to publish Di newspapers, which were similar to newspapers of later generations. In addition to excerpts from the imperial edicts and Tang newspapers, there were also some street newspapers. Rumors are one of the important ways for the people of the Ming Dynasty to understand the latest developments. ¡°Di??What's wrong? " "Master Zhu, I estimate that there will soon be a report saying that Wang Shi was defeated, which may be detrimental to our selling of Jinghai bonds." "Well, Huang Shuai is right, we must deny it first." "No. Mr. Zhu, wouldn¡¯t it be a fight in the newspaper? The general thinks it¡¯s better for us to admit it first.¡± Huang Shi thinks that there is no benefit in denying it. Not all newspapers in the Ming Dynasty are government-run. It is difficult to completely block it. ¡°Then no one will come to buy our bonds. ? The people may be worried about losing their money.¡± ¡°Master Zhu knows it well, rumors are the hardest thing to stop. Now our bonds have been circulated to Zhejiang and South Zhili. If the people see us denying it, and start selling new ones, If the land bond is used, then most people will suspect that we have indeed lost, and the people are not stupid." Huang Shi's words made Zhu Yifeng lower his head and think about it. He pondered for a long time and asked: "Huang Shuai means that once the people We began to suspect that the 30% loss might be spread to the destruction of the entire army." "Master Zhu has a great opinion. This is what the general is worried about. In the general's opinion, we might as well admit the loss honestly and then explain it. We will never compromise our position and point out that we just underestimated the enemy this time. Well, it was me, Huangshi, who underestimated the enemy. We will win it back next time and return all the money we borrowed." Seeing that Zhu Yifeng was still hesitating, Huang Shi further persuaded: "Mr. Zhu, if the people doubt our honesty, then no one will buy bonds again. This time we frankly admit the failure, which is equivalent to telling the people that we are honest people and will never think about it again." This is still beneficial for us to sell bonds." Zhu Yifeng was stunned for a long time, nodded slightly, and then let out a long sigh: "Oh, I hope it is as Huang Shuai expected! " In early October of the first year of Chongzhen, Zheng Yiguan and Liu Xiangqi once again released a group of captured officers and soldiers. As Huang Shi expected, they put forward more stringent recruitment conditions and required them to work side by side for Funing Town's coastal defense guerrillas. , and classified Xiamen, Tongshan, Chaozhou, etc. as their local defense areas, and were fully responsible for maritime trade security. "Rat, you are wishful thinking!" "Zhu Yifeng snorted coldly, threw the letter into a ball, and asked his men to beat the pirate's envoy out of the yamen with sticks. Huang Shi and Zhu Yifeng's joint apology letter has been sent to Beijing, and they both It is estimated that the capital will at best reprimand him harshly. First, this is just a small setback for Wang Shi; second, this is still within the two-year period; third, Fujian has become like this, and no one is willing to take over the unjust position of the Fujian governor; Finally, the reputation of Huangshi can still be sustained. In the early morning of October, the ninth day of the lunar month, Zhu Yifeng held a newly printed Jinghai loan certificate, and gently stroked his name with his fingertips. Huangshi and others After a while, he called softly: "Master Zhu." "I understand." Zhu Yifeng threw the bond into the box and waved his hand at the officials: "Open the middle door and let's start." Two days later, one day Jinghai University borrowed one million bonds and sold more than half a million more. While Huang Shi commanded the army to transport the money away, he faced Zhu Yifeng and sighed with emotion: "There are many righteous people and righteous people in Fujian, and they are all taught by Master Zhu." There is a way." "A righteous manmaybe." Today there is still an endless stream of people from outside the government office to buy bonds. Many people who have bought bonds before heard that Funing Army was going to regain its strength, and they also came to invest more. He said that the blood of the fallen soldiers should not be allowed to flow in vain. However, Zhu Yifeng did not seem to be very moved: "But I feel that they may be afraid that they will lose all their previous money Is the Jinghai Big Loan a good pirate ship?" Good job, I have a deep understanding of this." "Haha, Mr. Zhu is joking, I will go to rebuild the navy now." On October 15th, Xiapu Funing Town learned the lessons from the past and decided Ten larger warships were built this time. In the original plan, each ship was to be equipped with ten 18-pound guns and twenty 12-pound guns. The naval guns and stern guns were cancelled, and fifteen were deployed on each side. Artillery, each ship is equipped with fifteen gun crews of 150 people, plus 150 other sailors and sailors, all equipped with muskets and long knives. The quality of the recent batch of 18-pound guns has stabilized, and various The indicators all exceeded the test data when he was in Juehua. Today, Bao Bowen showed Huang Shi and Yu Zigao a new weapon from the Funing Town Military Industry Department - a twenty-four-pound cannon. "Commander, Deputy General Yu, how do you think of this cannon?" " After the exercise, Bao Bowen asked the two people with great satisfaction. "In the past, various artillery either relied on the power of Westerners or obtained prototypes from friendly forces, but this time the twenty-four-pounder gun was designed from beginning to end. The Fujian Military Industry Department made it on its own. ¡°Can this kind of gun be used on our new warships? "Come back to the commander-in-chief, yes, the general recommends that the new warship add two centerline gun mounts and two gun groups, and use twenty-four-pound guns." "Okay, you and General Yu will discuss it." "As ordered. .¡± "Yes, Commander. In addition, the Military Industry Department recommends starting trial production of thirty-two-pound cannons." "Submit the report. If there are no problems, I will approve it today." "Yes." October 17, the first year of Chongzhen. , Mao Wenlong's envoy arrived in Liaoyang and asked Huang Taiji to start a second round of peace talks. At the same time, he also claimed that North Korea had reached an agreement with him and agreed to build an army of tens of thousands to cooperate with the Dongjiang Army and prepare for a large-scale attack on Zhenjiang and Shenyang. Therefore, The peace talks between Huang Taiji and Mao Wenlong were beneficial and harmless. Huang Taiji refused to send an envoy to Dongjiang, but asked Su Wanliang to send back a letter. In this letter, Huang Taiji appeared extremely angry. He accused Mao Wenlong of saying, "People do not break their promises. This is true virtue; gaining power is a true hero. What good will it do if you use false words to lure a few people?" At the same time, he also mocked Mao Wenlong's bluff and said, "If things don't work out, we may attack the mountains, seas, and Shandong. I will capture them everywhere." Do you know? "After Mao Wenlong received the letter on November 9, he immediately reported it to the Ming Dynasty court on the same day, and sent garrison Liu De to Liaoyang again on the 15th. In this letter, Mao Wenlong announced that he He had long wanted to rebel against the Ming Dynasty, "Whether you take Shanhaiguan, I will take Shandong", and agreed with Huang Taiji that "if we attack from both sides, the matter will be settled." At the same time, he also anxiously persuaded Huang Taiji to send his trusted envoys to Dongjiang Island for detailed discussions. .