When Liu Zheng and his companions' supplies were hoisted from the Thor to the Fu Ship, the space on the Fu Ship's deck was suddenly reduced by more than half. A group of sailors spent a lot of effort to load the wooden boxes into the cabin with the help of the crane.
At this time, it was time for Liu Zheng to say goodbye. Zhao Xin, Liu Sheng, and Ding Guofeng all came to the deck to say goodbye to Liu Zheng and the others.
Liu Sheng smiled and hugged Liu Zheng, then patted the other person's shoulder and said: "Man! Take care of yourself all the way. The hope of the entire Chinese people is pinned on you! No matter it is a foreigner or a Manchu, who dares to follow You can kill Neng if you explode the stabbing! No matter what others say, Mr. Zhao can kill you in minutes. So no matter how difficult it is, you must endure it. Thousands of fellow women in Beihai Town are still waiting for you to return!"
"Hehe, Brother Liu, look what you said, you are asking me to stir up trouble." Liu Zheng was dumbfounded by Liu Sheng's teasing, and his original nervousness and reluctance suddenly diluted a lot.
Ding Guofeng also hugged and shook hands, and told: "Don't listen to Liu's nonsense, safety comes first. If it doesn't work, just send a report and I will sail over to pick you up."
Liu Sheng smiled and scolded: "Look at what you can do! Your captain's internship is not over yet."
Zhao Xin chuckled, hugged Liu Zheng's shoulders, and whispered: "Do you remember the things I said?"
Liu Zheng patted Zhao Xin's back knowingly, indicating that he had remembered everything. Just listen to Zhao Xin continue to whisper: "I won't say any more. Remember, the most terrifying thing is not the hard knife when there is feasting and feasting. There is a mixed bag of fish and dragons in Thirteen Lines. Foreigners have nothing to be afraid of. The most important thing to be careful about is this The surname is Cai."
When the two shook hands, Zhao Xin chuckled and said: "A person usually only needs to deal with seven or eight people. If you deal with these people well, then there will be nothing difficult."
Liu Sheng interjected: "He didn't tell you to find seven or eight wives!"
Several people laughed again.
After that, Zhao Xin and the others said goodbye to Liu Zheng's guard platoon and two correspondents respectively, and told them to protect Liu Zheng's safety and to be more careful themselves.
The platoon leader had participated in all the battles from Bear Island to Fuldan City. After Beihai Town was restructured, he gave himself a Chinese name, Li Sihai. All the instructions that need to be given have been given. Zhao Xin and the others only said to pay attention to safety and take care along the way. After paying each other a military salute, Liu Zheng led his men to disembark from the ship through the gangway, and then boarded through a springboard. Fortune ship.
At this time, the sailors on the lucky ship untied the cables and raised the hard sail. Zhao Xin and others stood on the side of the ship, waving goodbye to Liu Zheng and others who were gradually moving away. Cai Shiwen and his men bowed their hands in greeting to Wang Ping on the Thor.
Wang Ping did not go with Fu Chuan. His mission was to send Zhao Xin and others to Macau first, and then take the boat to Guangzhou.
Wailingding Island, where the Thor is now located, belonged to Xin'an County in Guangdong during this era, while Macau belonged to Xiangshan County. Whether it is the Cai family's Fortune Ship or the Thunder God, they must sail west-north from Wailingding Island and cross Banyan Tree Head before entering the waters of Xiangshan County.
Because the Cai family's ship had command flags and tokens issued by Guangdong Customs, they did not need to stop along the way. After passing Banyan Tree Head, they turned directly north and headed towards the Humen Fort.
The Thor is different. According to what Wang Ping said, it must first anchor in the waters off Macau, and only after the Macau Tongzhi Yamen and the Macau Portuguese Councilors send people to negotiate can they find a place to dock, and then change ships to enter Macau. As for berthing directly in Macau Port, let alone whether the court officials would allow it, there is no berth in Macau Port that can accommodate the Thor.
Coming to Macau was not a sudden whim of Zhao Xin, but a plan. He planned to use the Thor to visit Macau in order to shock foreigners who came to China for trade and let them know that there was a Han Chinese ship patrolling everywhere on China's waters that far exceeded the Manchu navy.
Just like Liu Sheng said to Liu Zheng, whoever dares to explode will kill them!
Ding Guofeng waited until Cai Jiafu's boat was completely invisible on the sea before he raised the anchor and set sail. After that, the Thor crossed Wailingding Island and headed west, first passing Rongshutou, then passing a small island called "Cheung Chau Shit", and soon came to the vicinity of Chicken Head Island at the east end of Tanzai Island. The ocean between Chicken Head Island and Tanzai Island in the west is where all ships coming to Macao drop their sails and anchor. This is also called the Chicken Neck Ocean.
Sixty years ago, in the third year of Yongzheng's reign, in order to limit the number of Portuguese coming to China and the outflow of Chinese people, the Qing government, through Kong Yuxun, the then governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, limited the number of merchant ships trading in Macau to 25. This is the origin of "excess ships". . In other words, excluding these 25 fixed merchant ships, all other foreign ships coming to China can only berth in the outer sea of Jijin Ocean if they want to enter the port; if the goods or people on the ship want to land in Macau, they must be transshipped by these 25 ships. .
Because the ship's currency is two-thirds cheaper than that at Humen Fort Customs, and the Qing government does not collect goods tax at the time of import, the goods can be moved directly into the warehouse, and the Chinese businessmen who buy the goods will pay the tax to Guangdong Customs when the transaction is completed. ; Therefore, even if there are ship quota restrictions, many foreign merchants will still choose to land their goods from Macau and pay a fee to the Macao and Portuguese parties.
At this time, dozens of large and small sailing ships from India, Malacca, and Luzon were moored on the Chicken Neck Ocean. There were British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish people on these ships, and the sailors on board were also of various races.
Seeing the sailboats appearing in the telescope, Ding Guofeng asked Zhao Xin: "Horn?"
Zhao Xin nodded and said: "Four short blasts, whistle!"
As the rapid whistle began to sound, the calm on the sea surface of the Chicken Neck Ocean was broken.
"Oh my god! What's that! Look that! Look! It's monster!" On the main mast observation deck of a British three-masted merchant ship, a blond sailor pointed to the east and shouted loudly.
On the Reliance from the East India Company, Captain Marquis, who received the notification from the star officer, walked out of the captain's cabin, walked to the left side of the bow, and pulled out his telescope.
After a moment, he looked at the first mate next to him in disbelief, and found that the other person was also looking at him with wide eyes, so he quickly put his eyes in front of the monocular to watch.
"Buck, is this an illusion?"
"Captain, I don't think it's possible for everyone to hallucinate at the same time." First mate Buck said while patting Marquis on the shoulder. Marquis followed Buck's finger and saw that other sailboats on the ocean were also crowded with people.
"Oh my God! There is such a big ship in the world! Buck, have you ever heard of such a ship?"
"Captain, to be disrespectful, I think Noah's Ark is only this big."
"Mr. Buck, can you see the gun ports on the hull? Why can't I see them?"
First Mate Buck looked at it for a while before replying: "It seems, it seems there is no muzzle."
The big ship in Marquis's field of vision gradually became clearer. He looked carefully for a long time, but he couldn't find a gun port. "A huge ship without gun windows. The guy who designed this ship must be crazy!"
At this time, a duty officer asked: "Captain, do you want to beat the drum to prepare for battle?"
First mate Buck said: "Harlan, you idiot, this is the Qing people's waters, we are not here to fight!"
Captain Marquis suddenly turned his head and said: "Jack! Get up there with the gun!"
"Yes! Captain!" The sailor with the best marksmanship on the ship climbed up to the observation deck with a brown bass rifle, but he could only see the bow and poop of the Thor.
After a while, Jack on the top beam of the mast shouted down: "Captain, their cabin is at the stern! As high as a mountain! I can't see if there is anyone on the bow. This ship is too big." !my God."
Marquis continued to look at the big white boat through the telescope, thinking to himself that this was definitely not a British Empire ship. Could it be a new American ship? If this is true, the East India Company must be notified immediately. It is obvious that the appearance of such a giant ship will pose a serious challenge to the East India Company's trade in the South China Sea.
On both sides of them, there were already crowds of sailors looking around. A few guys felt that they couldn't see clearly and even turned around and climbed up the mast. At this time, all the people on the sailboats on the Chicken Neck Ocean went up to the deck and were at a loss to watch the Thor getting closer and closer.
Zhao Xin put down the telescope, pointed at a three-masted sailboat not far away with a British flag flying on the top of the mast, and said to Ding Guofeng: "Keep blowing the whistle! Drive there and scare them!"
"No problem, let's see!" Ding Guofeng was full of energy at this time, pressed the yellow button that represented four short whistles, and then turned the rudder.
Buck, the first mate of the Trust, listened to the whistle coming from the sea and watched the white ship suddenly change its course and head towards him. He asked Marquis: "Captain, what are they doing? "
"Hmm...I guess they want us to make way for them?"
As soon as these words came out, Marquis and Buck put down their binoculars blankly, looked at each other, and suddenly turned their heads and shouted at the sailors.
"Ring the bell! Weigh the anchor! Raise the sail! Quick! Quick!" After that, he shouted to the observation tower above his head: "Jack, fire a warning!"
The sailor named Jack held his gun and aimed for a long time. He couldn't see the deck of the ship at all, so he fired a shot at the top of the bow.
"Boom!" The Thor on the opposite side showed no response.
The crisp bell rang on the deck of the Trust, and everyone immediately jumped up and down. The panicked sailors climbed to the top of the mast and began to lower the sail, while other sailors rushed to the bow to turn the winch to raise the anchor.
"Oh God! They are coming!" A young sailor shouted in panic. He even left the position of the winch and crossed himself on his chest to pray: "Eternal Father in heaven, please look down on me from heaven. Fallen sinners, hopeless and incapable of heart and mind..."
First mate Buck rushed over and yelled: "Shut your stinky mouth! Go back and push me hard! Everyone, push harder, hurry up!" As seven or eight sailors pushed hard together, a heavy The anchor slowly rises from the sea. At this time, Captain Marquis turned the steering wheel desperately, trying to turn the Trust.
At this time, everyone on the boat heard a loud rumbling sound, and two huge anchors fell from both sides of the bow of the big white boat; after a while, thick anchor chains continued along the anchor holes. Sliding into the sea.
On the trust, which was turning hastily, Marquis saw the white ship getting closer and closer to the trust, and all the crew members shouted at the top of their lungs.
"Stop! Stop!"
On another British merchant ship, the Eliza, four hundred meters away, an 18-pound iron cannon under the hull made a "boom" sound, emitting a puff of white smoke, and an 8-kilogram iron bullet roared into the Thor. the bow of the ship.
Seeing another British ship suddenly firing cannons, people on merchant ships from other countries were stunned. Are the British crazy?
Immediately afterwards, everyone heard a loud "dong" sound, and the 18-pound shell hit the outside of the bow of the big white boat, and then was ejected and fell into the sea... it was ejected!
"Oh my God! Is the hull covered with a layer of iron plate?!" Not only the gunners on the Eliza, but everyone on the sea who could see this scene clearly were dumbfounded.
In these days, everyone has seen the bottom of a three-masted ship clad with copper, but no one has ever heard of even the hull being clad with iron plates. Although compared to the 30-inch-thick hull of an eighteenth-century sailing ship, the Thor's outer shell steel plate is only 2 centimeters thick. However, an 8-kilogram iron ball traveling at a speed of 500 meters/second at a distance of more than 400 meters The muzzle velocity is hit on a special marine steel plate with a yield strength of 320 MPa, and that's it.
The captain of the Eliza didn't know how serious the consequences would be. Five minutes later, the two M2HBs on the starboard side of the Thor opened fire.
The sound of "bang bang bang" machine guns echoed on the sea of South China for the first time in this time and space. I saw a series of water columns suddenly appearing on the sea near the Eliza, and then a stream of water sprayed out from the ship. Countless sawdust.
In the lower cabin of the gun deck, several sailors were hit by sawdust flying everywhere. Several mango wood boxes placed on the bottom floor were hit by several rounds of .50 armor-piercing incendiary bombs and were immediately smashed into pieces; immediately after, the wooden boxes above also fell one after another. In this mess, black opium balls rolled to the ground; an extremely unpleasant smell, like urine that had been soaked for many days, permeated the entire cargo hold.
As the impact point continued to move upward, dozens of armor-piercing incendiary rounds penetrated into the gun deck. The bronze cannon that had just opened fire at the Thor, with "lucyjoe" engraved on the gun carriage, jumped up immediately after being hit, flipped 90 degrees downwards in the small cabin, and then crashed hard. The cannon on the left made a loud "duang" sound. The sailors in the gun deck were beaten and turned upside down; a few lucky guys were lying on the deck, not daring to move.
Wood chips were still flying, so the railing on Eliza's starboard side was shattered, and a fire soon broke out; at the same time, there was a howling of ghosts and wolves on the main deck. Just when everyone on the Eliza felt that the end was coming, the gunfire on the Thor stopped.
At the bow of the Thor, Zheng Yi and others, who had escaped from collective bondage, were guarded by more than a dozen soldiers. They stretched their necks and looked at the two "quick cannons" that roared just now on the deck. Their jaws dropped in shock. .
God! What kind of weapon is this? ! Zheng Yixin said that if I had two, no, one of these fast cannons, no official foreigner would be a match for me!
At this time, the Thor's speed had slowed down, but in the eyes of everyone on the Trust, it still hit it at an unstoppable speed. Some sailors on the Trust were so frightened that they jumped into the water from the other side of the deck and swam desperately toward other ships. Marquis reluctantly let go of the wheel rudder, hurriedly hugged the mast, and shouted to everyone on the boat: "Pay attention to the impact! Pay attention to the impact!" After saying this, he closed his eyes in despair, and other people on the boat also grabbed the cables. , constantly praying to God to survive.
Amidst the exclamations of thousands of people on the sea, the red bulbous bow of the Thor, which was half exposed from the water, stopped ten meters away from the Trust.
"Xu~~"
On the Chicken Neck Ocean, the people on the sailboats from all over the world breathed a long sigh of relief when they saw this thrilling scene! Although the Trust is a 1,500-ton three-masted sailboat, it is as weak as an ant in front of such an unprecedented giant ship; let alone the Eliza, which is still on fire on the deck. .
The air on the sea seemed to be frozen for a few seconds, and what followed was the rapid ringing of bells on sailing ships from various countries, like a rainstorm.
"Weight anchor, hoist sail! Run! The devil on the sea is out!"
"Hurry, lift anchor quickly, let's go to Macau! We need to enter Hong Kong immediately to report the news!" This is a plan to fish in troubled waters and enter Macau.
On the Trust and Eliza, the two captains and all the sailors were frightened to the point of peeing. Their backs soaked in cold sweat were blown by the breeze, and goosebumps appeared all over their bodies. In their hearts, they were all struggling with one question: Where did this ship come from?
"Sir, let's get out of here quickly, shall we?" On a French merchant ship, a Macao Tongzhi Yamen (Guangzhou Prefecture's Macau Coastal Defense Military and Civilian Tongzhi Yamen) who was leading people to board the ship for inspection took the sum and the subordinates of the Macao and Portuguese Councilors, Looking at the huge white ship two miles away, he was so frightened that his face turned pale and he lost his mind.
"Which country's giant ship is this? How dare you be so domineering in our clear waters!" After a while, the general manager, who had come back to his senses, slammed the table and said angrily: "Come here!"
"Zha! Your Majesty's command." Several officers and soldiers from the Coast Guard Yamen knelt on the deck in fear.
"Quick, escort me back to Macau quickly and report to Mr. Chen."
"Sir, wait for me, I will go back with you." The accompanying Macao and Portuguese trustees hurriedly followed, and he also wanted to rush back immediately to report to Governor Faria.
The captain of the French merchant ship chased to the side of the ship and shouted: "My lords, I haven't completed the inspection procedures yet!"
The Macao-Portuguese director boarded the big boat, turned around and waved his hands helplessly: "Captain, if something like this happens, you have no choice but to wait. Take care!"
"Damn it! I've been waiting for twenty days!" Watching the boat go further and further away, the French captain shouted angrily, but unfortunately no one responded.
On the big boat, when the commander kept urging his men to paddle, a soldier next to him suddenly shouted: "Sir, look!"
At this time, everyone on the sea, whether they had anchored or were preparing to raise the sails, saw on the bow of the big white boat, a huge rectangular five-star flag with a red background and a white five-star flag slowly rising along the mast, drifting with the wind. Fluttering fiercely.
