Chapter 214
Shen Boyun was in a pretty good mood.
In fact, the boss is not the easy one. Although the boss can eat and occupy more, he should bear no less responsibilities and risks.
When the Shachuan Gang was suppressed by the Zheng family, he couldn't eat well, couldn't sleep well, and had a head as big as a bucket. Although this is still the case now, the problem is that these troubles are no longer Shen Boyun's, but Cheng Shijie's.
Now Shen Boyun no longer has to worry about Zheng's more than 3,000 warships, nor does he need to worry about being knocked off his head by pirates from the Zheng Group in his sleep.
There was no need to worry. He could cry in front of the families of the Shachuan Gang. The most important thing was that he could see how Cheng Shijie dealt with the Zheng Group.
At this time, the northeasterly wind started to turn into a tailwind. With the wind to take advantage of, the sailing speed was greatly increased.
Shen Boyun sprinkled a handful of colored sawdust from the bow into the water, counting silently in his mind. When the sawdust on the water moved to the stern, he calculated the speed, looked at Cheng Shijie and said: "Commander, if the wind does not change, there will be another hour." , how far is it before we can reach Chongming?"
Cheng Shijie looked at Shen Boyun and said: "Bojun..."
Cheng Shijie's philosophy of governance is still to rule the country by law, but as the territory becomes larger and larger, especially after the Shachuan Gang has taken refuge, it means that the composition of the Liaodong forces has become more complicated.
Cheng Shijie originally wanted to use thunderous means to deal with it, but the problem is that if this is the case, other forces will not take the initiative to join him in the future, and may even stand against Cheng Shijie.
If you use thunderous means to deal with those gentry, Cheng Shijie has no psychological burden, but the problem is that the nature of the Shachuan Gang is that, like the Cao Gang, they are a group of bitter people.
"This commander has always governed the army by military law, and governed Liaodong by military law. You must understand that you cannot do anything if you have something to do, and the Shachuan Gang cannot be above the law!"
Cheng Shijie said with a serious face: "I hope you will personally handle the affairs of the Shachuan Gang and not leave any trouble. I am afraid of trouble!"
Listening to Cheng Shijie's words, Shen Boyun broke into cold sweat.
The key to the problem is that he still doesn't know what happened. Shen Boyun hurriedly returned to his Jixian, and Gu Siyuan, Shen Boyun's long-term follower and confidant, hurriedly greeted him: "Master!"
"Siyuan, I have something to ask you. What happened to the Shachuan Gang? It made the commander very dissatisfied!"
"No?"
Gu Siyuan thought carefully: "Could it be..."
"What is it?"
"Master, the people under your hands will inevitably have unclean hands and feet!"
Shen Boyun came to his senses: "You mean Chongming Island?"
Chongming Island is shaped like a lying silkworm and is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River. It is about 80 kilometers long from north to south and 13 to 18 kilometers wide from east to west. As the largest sand island in the Ming Dynasty, it has very abundant rainfall and is a good place for farming. It's just a pity that the weather in this era is not very friendly. There are often strong winds and heavy rains. Life on Chongming Island is not easy.
Chongming at this time was completely incomparable with the prosperous and luxurious Oriental Magic City of later generations. Shanghai at the end of the Ming Dynasty was still a very poor place. The only place that really developed in such a large area was Huating. Just a small piece.
There is no way. Coastal cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Macau developed under the background of close exchanges between the East and the West. They will either become distribution centers for import and export trade, become windows for exchanges between the East and the West, or become financial centers. If Without this background, it is really difficult for them to rely on their own pitiful resources to develop.
However, the farming in Chongming is not being used at the moment. Chongming's business has begun to flourish, and the silk weaving industry is gradually developing. Some of the cotton and silk produced in Jiangnan are also resold to foreign countries. These are all real. benefit.
In fact, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, if the Ming Dynasty could open its country to trade with Europe, I believe that the financial crisis of the Ming Dynasty would be solved soon. Land annexation by landlords will also become unprofitable, and ordinary people will have one more way to survive due to the rise of industry and commerce.
However, the problem is that the ruling officials of the Ming Dynasty were civil servants. As the group of carnivores who made the rules, they never considered the life and death of the people at the bottom. They represented and safeguarded only their own interests.
Spring is ushering in Chongming now. In fact, Cheng Shijie began to make arrangements on Chongming Island as early as when the Shachuan Gang took refuge with Cheng Shijie.
Because Cheng Shijie would not change his strategy because of an imperial edict from Emperor Chongzhen, such as fighting Zheng Zhilong. Even if Emperor Chongzhen strictly ordered Cheng Shijie not to fight, Cheng Shijie would still fight as he should. Chongming Island became Zhu Weiti's fiefdom, and Cheng Shijie regarded Chongming as his own territory.
It's that simple and crude.
At this time, Chongming Island originally had a population of only 145,000, and more than 80% of them were members of the Shachuan Gang or their family members. Now Chongming Island has become a huge construction site, with a large number of people wielding hoes and shovels, building in full swing. Warehouses, dock expansion, and trestle construction.
Chongming Island is the largest sand island in the Ming Dynasty. There are not many places that can be used as docks. Compared with the 1,200 square meters of later generations, Chongming Island is one-third smaller, with a land area of only more than 800 square kilometers. , originally five adjacent sand islands, gradually became connected together.
Since the construction of Chongming Island was about to start, a large number of workers would definitely be needed. The Shen family turned to Cheng Shijie, and the supervision, recruitment, and construction work naturally fell on the Shen family.
But the Shen family is used to being aloof. When the Shachuan Gang is running boats for transportation, they will give food to whomever they use, so they have developed this habit.
In order to speed up the progress of the project construction, Cheng Shijie recruited workers from the people of Chongming Island with a salary of one bucket of rice per day, or 50 yuan. But the problem is that when this matter came into the hands of the Shen family, a bucket of rice turned into three liters, and fifty money turned into twenty money.
Since then, although the workers involved in the construction were also very satisfied, Shen took money from Cheng Shijie, which made Cheng Shijie very unhappy. However, Shen had just come over, and the outstanding craftsmen of the Shachuan Gang had also been recruited to shipyards or water companies in Liaodong. In the division troops.
"Confused!"
Shen Boyun was trembling with anxiety.
How short-sighted are the Shen family members? If their hands and feet are not clean, how could Cheng Shijie entrust important matters to them? Maybe Shen Boyun has already left this impression in Cheng Shijie's mind.
Shen Boyun was so anxious that he quickly ordered a wheel ship to be mobilized. The wheel ship is called a thousand-mile ship. It uses a pedal-type wheel mechanism to drive the ship forward. It is not afraid of the wind direction and the speed is very fast. But the problem is that people will be very tired, so this kind of Ships cannot be built too big and can only sail short distances.
Just when Shen Boyun hurried back to Chongming Island,
To the south of Chongming Island is Changxing Island, and to the south of Changxing Island is the famous Wusongkou.
In the 19th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1386), Wusong was set up to guard Qianhu Station. In the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing (1557), Baoshan Guarding Station for Thousand Households was established at the high bridge southeast of Wusong Guarding Station.
This is the largest garrison of the Ming army in Wusongkou, with two garrison posts. No forts were built in Wusongkou until the 17th year of Shunzhi (1660), when the west fort was built at Yangjiazui on the west bank of Wusongkou. In the fifty-seventh year of Kangxi's reign (1718), the East Fort was built on the east bank of Wusongkou out to sea. The North Fort was built in the twelfth year of Guangxu (1886). The original site was located at the north end of Nanshitang (the north end of today's Wusongkou National Defense Project), and it was at the corner of the West Fort.
Although there was no fort at Wusongkou at this time, it was built as Wusongkou Qianhusuo. Qianhusuo was actually a small military fortress, especially located in the south of the Yangtze River. The city was built with glutinous rice juice and blue bricks, occupying an absolute advantage. Easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Just when Zheng Zhibao's huge fleet appeared on the river at Wusongkou, the soldiers guarding Qianhu Station in Wusongkou were stunned. The shadows of sails were heavy and the sky was blocked.
However……
No matter how powerful a fortress is, it must be defended by someone. If people are not good enough, even a fortress with copper walls and iron walls will be vulnerable. The south of the Yangtze River has been peaceful for more than two hundred years, and military preparations have long since been abandoned. The flames of the anti-Japanese war during the Jiajing period have long since dissipated, and the bloody war has also been forgotten. The Ming army stationed in Wusongkou has returned to its old ways, and Shangguan continues to find ways to drink the blood of his soldiers. How bad have the guardsmen become if they continue to try to escape or steal something to satisfy their hunger?
So bad that you can just ignore them!
The first reaction of these guardsmen guarding Qianhu Station was neither to ask for help nor to gather to prepare for a counterattack. Instead, they turned around and ran away. From the time Zheng Zhibao's battleship appeared in sight, by the time they arrived at Wusongkou, it took just half an hour. Within a short period of time, the defenders at Wusongkou had disappeared.
When Zheng Zhibao came to the river more than 1,000 meters above Wusongkou, he used his telescope to look at Wusongkou's garrison of Qianhu Station. There were no soldiers guarding or arraying on it, and there were only people on the shore who were quiet.
Zheng Zhibao was very cautious at this time, fearing that he would be ambushed, so he ordered: "Prepare for bombardment, and the landing troops will be ready!"
Following Zheng Zhibao's order, the messengers of Zheng's fleet hurriedly issued orders to the ships. One by one, the warships began to turn and move sideways, aiming their broadside guns at Wusongkou.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom..."
The sound of the cannon was like midsummer thunder, and hundreds of lead balls roared out from the muzzle and hit Wusongkou hard!
Since the artillery of Zheng's fleet used black powder to fire, the sound of hundreds of artillery firing at the same time was not small, but it blocked his line of sight.
Zheng Zhilong couldn't see clearly what was going on at Wusongkou Fortress. As one round of bombardment ended, and then another, for five consecutive rounds, Zheng Zhilong ordered people to land.
When Cheng Shijie arrived at Chongming Island, he knew that Wusongkou had been lost, and even the Ninghai Navy on Chongming Island, which was more than 60 kilometers away, had no time to provide support.
Just when Cheng Shijie's Eighth Princess entered the Yangtze River Estuary, Zheng Zhibao led another fleet to arrive. Hundreds of warships were crowded at the Yangtze River Estuary. Looking around, almost all of them were warships.
Zheng Zhibao wanted to see what Ning Haijun's combat effectiveness was, but Cheng Shijie had no intention of entering into an open battle with Zheng.
Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "Good guy, aren't Zheng's going to live a good life? There are hundreds of ships, which is really enough to give you face!"
Li Zhixiang said: "Commander, how are we going to fight this battle?"
"No fighting for now!"
Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "Look at Zheng's fleet. They are so densely packed here. We have the upper hand. If we don't take advantage of this wind, we will be sorry to God."
"The commander-in-chief means fire attack?"
"That's right!"
Cheng Shijie looked at the 400 gunboats in the fleet and the old boats of the Shachuan Gang: "These dilapidated ships have lost the value of repair. Instead of wasting energy on dismantling them, it is better to use them as waste!"
Li Zhixiang understood what Cheng Shijie meant and immediately ordered Ning Haijun's 400-material gunboat to be quickly dismantled. The 400-material gunboat had eight small-caliber Franco machine guns, which were the ones initially equipped by Ning Haijun's infantry. Model, can fire four-pound or six-pound cannon.
This kind of artillery is very light, weighing less than 300 kilograms in total. It can be disassembled directly, and then the 400 cannon ships are tied together with iron locks, each of which is a group of ten.
Seeing that Ning Haijun's navy was changing formations, the large warships moved out of the waterway to allow smaller ships to fight.
At this time, Zheng Zhibao did not realize that Ning Haijun was preparing to attack with fire. He thought that Ning Haijun was testing the strength of Zheng's fleet with water.
Seeing more than a hundred small broken ships of the Ning Haijun Navy going into battle, Zheng Zhibao smiled and said: "Old Jiu, you go and try the quality of the Ning Haijun Navy. Remember, I only send more than a hundred ships. I can't let people laugh at me." The more you bully the less!"
Laojiu is Yang Liu, one of the Eighteen Zhi. He ranks ninth. Because he followed Liu Xiang against Zheng Zhilong, he was captured by Zheng Zhilong last year, and Yang Liu surrendered to Zheng Zhilong.
Yang Liu is a cruel person, but very brave and good at fighting. He is a ruthless character who can compete with Zheng Zhihu. Yang Liu is lustful, and Zheng Zhilong uses his nickname and beauty to subdue Yang Liu.
Yang Liu laughed and said: "Fifth Master, don't worry, just look at it, I don't need a hundred ships, I will use eighty to show the man named Cheng how good we are!"
However, at this moment, Yang Liu's nose twitched and his brows furrowed: "The person named Cheng is going to play dirty, please move away!"
Zheng Zhibao's expression changed drastically.
Without his order, the warships of Zheng's fleet began to turn and escape. Due to their haste, five or six ships collided with each other, and fires burst into the sky on the river. More than a hundred old and broken ships of the Ning Navy turned into fire ships. Sailing towards the Zheng fleet.
Cheng Shijie looked at the chaotic Zheng fleet and said with some regret: "What a pity, these pirates really have unusual noses!"
Li Zhixiang smiled and said: "Commander, Zheng Zhilong is an expert at playing with fire boats. I didn't expect that the commander would make him angry today..."
Cheng Shijie said disapprovingly: "The next step is up to you. The Yangtze River estuary is too small, so naval battles must be fought at sea!"
"Commander, please move!"
Cheng Shijie actually wanted to see how the navy fought, but the problem was that Li Zhixiang did not dare to let Cheng Shijie take risks. You must know that the Ning Haijun power group is getting better and better, and hundreds of thousands of people eat with Cheng Shijie. If Cheng Shijie has a problem, This will destroy the jobs of hundreds of thousands of people.
What's more, Cheng Shijie doesn't have a son yet, which is what Ning Haijun is most worried about. Once Cheng Shijie has an accident, no one can bear this responsibility, which means that Ning Haijun Group will collapse.
"If the commander doesn't move, this battle will not be fought!"
Cheng Shijie also knew Li Zhixiang's worries. He patted Li Zhixiang on the shoulder and said: "I will leave it to you, Commander, for the naval battle. Fight hard and let Zheng Zhilong kneel in front of me and sing Conquer!"
Cheng Shijie took the Eighth Princess and sailed to Chongming Island. Li Zhixiang climbed aboard the battleship Port Arthur and raised the command flag: "Now we can finally fight!"
Just as Zheng Zhibao hurriedly avoided the fire ship, he was shocked to find that the Ning Navy actually split into two, one part sailed quickly to Chongming Island, and the other part of the main warships, about fifty or sixty large warships, headed towards the sea.
Zheng Zhibao's first reaction was that Cheng Shijie wanted to run away.
"Cheng wants to run away, Hong Xu!"
"exist!"
"Take your men and boats and chase after him, don't let the man named Cheng get away!"
"yes!"
As one of the Eighteen Zhizhi, Hong Xu was originally a subordinate and fellow countryman of Zheng Zhilong, and was deeply trusted by Zheng Zhilong. In history, Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and he switched to Zheng Chenggong. In the fifteenth year of Shunzhi (1658), Zheng Chenggong launched his northern expedition to Nanjing. , let Hong Xu, who was also a military officer, stay at Jin and Xia Islands together with former governor Huang Ting and household officer Zheng Tai.
Taking advantage of the chaos at the Yangtze River Estuary, Ning Haijun's navy's main battleship was sailing on the sea. Taking advantage of the wind, it actually headed north against the wind, which made Zheng Zhibao very anxious.
The Ning navy's navy fled in front, and the Zheng fleet chased behind. The two sides fought a guerrilla war at sea.
Guerrilla warfare is different from running away. When the Ning Navy navy ran ahead, it would drop a few mines from time to time, or deliberately slow down, and then fire at the Zheng fleet.
In short, Ning Haijun's navy was full of tricks, provoking Zheng Zhibao more and more crazy.
Just ten kilometers after leaving the Yangtze River Estuary.
Li Zhixiang said: "Is it time for the commander to go to Chongming now?"
"almost!"
Shen Shikui said: "Old Li, how are you going to fight?"
"Fight now!"
Following the order issued from the battleship Lushun, the main battleships of the Ning Navy changed from the original one-word long snake formation, with their wings spread out like a roc spreading its wings.
Ning Haijun's navy no longer ran away, so the main warships lined up in two rows and moved forward together. Carrying the enemy from the front and outflanking them on both sides is what the Ning Navy and Army are good at. Now the Ning Navy has transplanted this tactic into naval battles. As for whether it will work... To be honest, Li Zhixiang is not sure.
Seeing that Ning Haijun's naval battleship did not retreat but instead advanced, Zheng Zhibao felt a little abnormal.
Cheng Shijie's intention is very simple. My ship is stronger than your warships, and my naval guns are more powerful than yours, so why do you need to play tricks? Just push it flat!
After all, the navy of the Ning Navy had been exposed to such large warships with three thousand or four thousand materials, and they were somewhat unskilled. Several sailors were even thrown out of the warship during the emergency turn, and other ships were in a hurry. .
In contrast, Zheng's fleet was much more calm. After all, they were begging for food at sea. This kind of scene was just a trivial matter to them and there was nothing to make a fuss about.
After a brief moment of consternation, Zheng Zhibao immediately reacted and commanded the fleet to spread out in a flying geese formation. More than a hundred medium-sized and large warships were arranged in the middle. The wings of the light warships were spread out and they went straight in. The gunners quickly loaded gunpowder and shells. , armed sailors aiming at the target and preparing for hand-to-hand combat, clutching swords, axes and muskets. Once on board the enemy ship, they have won.
Both fleets were approaching at high speed, like two giant tyrannosauruses, fiercely pounced on their opponents. In the blink of an eye, the distance between the two fleets was shortened to less than two thousand meters.
"Boom boom boom boom..."
A large cloud of smoke rushed out from the barrel of the gun. The strong recoil caused the battleship to involuntarily pause backward. Amidst the thunder and lightning, more than two hundred rounds of artillery shells burst out, forming a curtain of fire that covered the Zheng fleet. Striker!
"Firing artillery from such a distance, the surname Cheng has a lot of money!"
Zheng Zhibao was still laughing at Ning Haijun for not understanding naval warfare. He fired at a distance of more than 2,000 meters. It had no effect except wasting the shells. However, the problem was that this time the salvo fired, Ning Haijun was particularly lucky. He actually hit three ships directly, including A small gunboat was directly blown to pieces, and the other hit was a black-tailed boat. Although it did not sink, the shells directly ignited the gunpowder on it.
Seeing the loss of three of his warships in an instant, Zheng Zhibao looked horrified: "Ning Haijun's artillery can actually hit such a distance?"
(End of chapter)
