Jiangyin Guard.
Zhuang Xing drew his bow to the full moon, and the arrow flew out, nailed on the bull's-eye, and the tail of the arrow trembled.
The look of resentment was not concealed at all.
Zhou Lin was pushed out by the maid. Looking at Zhuang Xing's expression, he sneered: "It's a good thing that Gu didn't let you go. Don't you hope that he will die outside?"
Zhuang Xing stared at Zhou Lin and drew an arrow: "You are so sure that he will die outside. If he makes military exploits, wouldn't I miss a great opportunity?"
Zhou Lin laughed darkly and shook his head: "You don't know, a band of pirates has crossed the Suzhou defense zone. No one can tell where they are hiding, but it seems that this group of people deliberately entered the Yangtze River Estuary to show their repeated suppression of the imperial court. counterattack."
Zhuang Xing frowned: "Gu Zhengchen has brought three hundred sergeants. The fact that the pirates can avoid Wu Zhen's navy means that their number must be small."
Zhou Lin stretched out four fingers and said coldly: "At least four hundred pirates! If Gu Zhengchen is lucky, he might not encounter them. But if he is unlucky, hehe, Nansha Island is his grave. Zhuang Xing, I I know you want Gu Zhengchen to die, after all, Ban Yongji has a close relationship with you..."
Zhuang Xing's expression changed slightly.
At least four hundred pirates?
The pirates are all people who add blood to the tip of their swords. When fighting, every one of them fights with all his life, ferociously and brutally!
No matter what tactics were used by the imperial navy to suppress the pirates, no matter whether they fought at sea or on the coast, in most cases they had a common feature:
Use more to defeat less!
No matter how bad it is, they still have equal strength.
But now Gu Zhengchen only leads 300 people. Once he encounters a pirate team of more than 400 people, he will definitely be in a hard fight, and maybe even end up with the entire army destroyed!
Zhuang Xing shot an arrow and it missed the target. He said in a deep voice: "Why didn't you tell Gu Zhenfu such important information? If they didn't take any precautions, they would probably lose their lives!"
Zhou Lin sneered, with murderous intent in his eyes: "Who is he? He dared to whip me as soon as he arrived at Jiangyin Guard. He almost killed me, and I still can't get up! This time, if he doesn't die in Nansha, he won't be able to get up." I want to return to Jurong alive!”
Zhuang Xing looked at Zhou Lin angrily: "But don't forget, there are two hundred Jiangyin sergeants following Gu Zhengchen!"
"so what?"
Zhou Lin scolded them sternly, with sharp eyes: "They are sergeants. They died fighting for the country, and they will receive pensions. That is enough."
Zhuang Xing didn't expect Zhou Lin to be so cold-blooded. His hatred for Gu Zhengchen made him even willing to sacrifice the lives of three hundred sergeants!
This kind of cold-bloodedness and revenge is not unique to Zhou Lin. His father Zhou Huan is also of the same virtue. He clearly knows that Nansha is not suitable for garrison protection, but he chooses it there!
"Report!"
Chen Yazi from Baihu ran over.
"speak!"
Zhuang Xing said quietly.
Chen Yazi was very anxious and pointed towards the gate of the guard camp: "Wang Hu, the commander of Longxiang Guard, came according to the order and is now one mile outside the guard camp."
"What?"
Zhuang Xing was surprised. The highest officer of Longxiang Guard was not staying in Jinling. Why did he come to Jiangyin Guard?
Wang Hu came with great momentum. After entering Jiangyin Guard, he didn't even look at Zhuang Xing and others. He directly shouted: "Where is the man from Quanzhou County? Let him come and receive the order."
"Accept the order?"
Zhuang Xing shivered.
The emperor's orders were delivered by a commander. The relationship between Gu Zhengchen and the royal family was terrifying.
Zhuang Xing bit the bullet and reported: "Gu Zhenfu followed the order of General Zhou Huan under Wu Zhen and led the navy to Nansha to garrison to ensure that the pirates could not enter the Yangtze River Estuary."
Wang Hu was stunned for a moment, his face suddenly turned cold, he stepped forward and kicked Zhuang Xing to the ground: "Mom, what nonsense are you talking about! Didn't Gu Zhengchen temporarily take charge of Jiangyin Guard affairs under Wu Zongbing's order? How could he run into the river? Zhou Huan, who is he? How dare he issue orders at will?"
Zhuang Xing did not expect Wang Hu to be so arrogant and powerful, but he knew that this person was not to be offended. His father, Wang Jian, submitted to the emperor before he crossed the river. Qian Shi, the governor of the Dudu Mansion.
Wang Hu became anxious and gritted his teeth and said: "The emperor's decree is that I will take charge of the Jiangyin Guards. The Quanzhou County man will return to Jurong immediately! Now that I'm here, the Quanzhou County man is not here! If he makes a mistake, Zhou Huan's whole family will be affected." Don’t even think about living! Come on, if you go to Nansha, you must bring back the man from Quanzhou County, even if you lose a hair!"
Zhuang Xing, Chen Yazi and others trembled. Hearing this, the emperor valued Gu Zhengchen very much and was afraid that something might happen to him!
dusk.
The sun sets slowly, and its remaining light shines on the water.
The water flow is undulating, sparkling and beautiful.
Gu Zhengchen stood on the boat, staring at the water in the distance. He just turned around and said something to Zhao Hailou. He felt something strange, stared at it again, and said in a deep voice: "A fleet is approaching, and we are ready to investigate. "
Zhao Hailou looked at the sea in the distance and saw that there were quite a few approaching fleets, at least forty ships. He couldn't help but frown: "What a rare fleet."
The gong sounded continuously.
Feng Fu, Dou Qiao and others who were resting on Nansha Island heard the sound, took all the sergeants on board, and rowed to the vicinity of Gu Zhengchen's ship.
In order to preserve the strength of the sergeants to the greatest extent and take into account possible emergencies, the method of checking passing ships is three ships and one ship. If four ships appear at one time, the sergeants of twelve ships will need to go together. If a large-scale fleet appears, naturally all can be dispatched.
Gu Zhengchen frowned slightly as he looked at the approaching fleet.
These ships, like the grain ships used by the imperial court to transport grain, were much larger than the small wooden boats at Gu Zhengchen's feet. To put it bluntly, if they collided, Zhao Hailou would have to fish out Gu Zhengchen from the water.
"The fleet has anchored, stop the ship for inspection!"
Zhao Hailou shouted at the top of his lungs.
The speed of the fleet slowed down, the sound of anchoring was heard, and a ship stopped on the surface of the Yangtze River Estuary.
Zhao Hailou breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this. Being able to cooperate with the inspection meant that he was not a pirate and just went through the motions. Besides, the fleet must have gone through many rounds of investigations to get here.
A round head emerged from the nearly ten-foot-high boat. He looked at the frail navy in front of him and couldn't help laughing: "Where did the navy come from? It's so shabby. We are the fleet that transports food for the imperial court. We are going to Jinling, so be well and let us go there as soon as possible."
Just as Zhao Hailou was about to talk, Gu Zhengchen's ship was already approaching: "Interrogation as usual, it won't take much time, so please be considerate."
"Well, they are all doing errands for the court."
The people on the boat agreed.
"Gu Zhenfu, we can just go up and have a look. There is no need to go there in person."
Zhao Hailou saw that Gu Zhengchen was about to get on the boat and quickly persuaded him.
Gu Zhengchen chuckled and said, "I finally have the opportunity to board a big ship, how could I miss it. Zhang Pei, Qin Song, Dou Qiao, Hailou, you must cheer up."
Zhang Pei took a deep look at Gu Zhengchen, nodded heavily, and was the first to climb up the rope ladder thrown from the ship.
Gu Zhengchen then got on the boat, and Qin Song, Zhao Hailou and others also followed.
"Yuan Liang, the person in charge of the household department, who are you?"
People with round faces salute.
Gu Zhengchen cupped his hands and said, "Jiangyin Guards temporarily suppresses Gu Zhengchen."
"Oh, it turns out to be Gu Zhenfu, disrespectful."
Yuan Liang is polite and courteous.
Gu Zhengchen narrowed his eyes and asked, "In what month did Chief Yuan leave Jinling? How long ago did he transport so much grain?"
Yuan Liang laughed: "To tell you the truth, we were sent out at the end of the twelfth lunar month. Unfortunately, we didn't even spend New Year's Day with my family. There is no way, the north needs a lot of food, and Jinling has a lot of allocations, so there is always a need Grain will be added in. This batch of grain is collected from Hangzhou Prefecture."
"You are leaving Jinling at the end of the twelfth twelfth lunar month. Then Chief Yuan must know the news that Wei Guogong has returned to Jinling. He advocates actively storing food and marching north at any time to completely eliminate the threat of the Yuan Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty. I estimate that your food needs It’s enough to travel a few more places.”
With a smile on his face, Gu Zhengchen turned his hands behind his back and made a gesture to Zhang Pei.
Zhang Pei understood and followed Gu Zhengchen.
Yuan Liang said vaguely: "Yes, Wei Guogong is back. As long as we can eliminate the Hulu, it doesn't matter if we run to the sea a few more times."
Gu Zhengchen looked at the crew on the deck and saw that although this group of people were dressed simply, their faces were rough. They seemed to have experienced wind and frost for many years. They all seemed leisurely, but they were subconsciously tight. The shoes on some people's feet were They are still dressed randomly, obviously one big and one small.
"Let the two of them take a look at the situation in the cabin."
Gu Zhengchen looked at Qin Song and Dou Qiao.
Yuan Liang arranged for someone to accompany him. Seeing that Gu Zhengchen did not go in, he was happy to accompany him and talk.
Gu Zhengchen walked to the side of the ship and seemed to be unable to see the knife marks all over the side of the ship. He asked Yuan Liang: "Jinghai Marquis Wu Zhen is suppressing the pirates. I heard that they have all gone to Fujian. Have you heard the news? No good news?"
Yuan Liang shook his head and responded with a smile: "Jinghai Hou Shui Zhan Wushuang, there will definitely be good news. It's just that we didn't go south. We only focused on transporting food and didn't hear the news."
"That's it."
Gu Zhengchen nodded and chatted with Yuan Liang.
Qin Song and Dou Qiao came out and said that there was nothing wrong with the cabin being filled with food.
Gu Zhengchen held up his hands and said to Yuan Liang: "The military order has delayed your schedule. The sky is getting dark. Where do you plan to stop and rest?"
Yuan Liang sighed: "It's a miserable life. There is no rest. Turn on the lights, take turns rowing, and arrive at Jinling early for business."
Gu Zhengchen was filled with admiration, praised him a few words, and then got off the ship.
The fleet weighed anchor, turned on the lights, and passed in front of Gu Zhengchen and others one by one.
Gu Zhengchen watched the fleet moving slowly, then looked at the night, and issued an order: "Instruct all sergeants to prepare for battle, extinguish the lights, and follow the fleet!"
"Why?"
Zhao Hailou and Feng Fu were a little confused.
Qin Song stared at the leaving fleet and looked at Gu Zhengchen: "What Gu Zhenfu means is that this is a fleet disguised by pirates!"
"Pirates?!"
Zhao Hailou was shocked.
Gu Zhengchen sneered: "When I left Jinling at the end of the twelfth twelfth lunar month, I heard nothing strange about my name. Among the officials in Beijing, who doesn't know that Gu Zhengchen, a man from Quanzhou County, is a laughing stock? What's more, the end of the twelfth twelfth lunar month is close to New Year's Day, and all officials in Beijing are required to attend the New Year's Day meeting. , how could the imperial court send a chief official to send people out of Jinling before New Year's Day, and do chores like transporting grain?"
"In addition, judging from the damage to the ship, the clothing of the crew, and the demeanor of the crew, it is inferred that this is definitely not a court grain transport ship. If this is the case, it can only be a pirate. A merchant ship would not dare to pretend to be a court official. This is a fool's errand! Brothers, military success is in sight, so cheer up and let’s fight wildly!”
