After Huang Bannian rushed into the government office, Zhao Sanqi immediately ordered people to lead horses and get ready. Gu Zhengchen took Xiao Cheng and Lin Baifan on their horses and ran out of Jinjiang City, heading straight for Quanzhou Port.
When the fleet led by Zhang He and Huang Senping was only a hundred steps away from the pier, four horses suddenly ran out of the pier. Immediately, their beautiful horse hooves struck the air and neighed. Zhang He saw Gu Zhengchen fall off the horse vigorously. .
Gu Zhengchen stood at the pier, quietly watching the fleet enter the port.
Lin Baifan counted and said: "Twelve ships, all are back."
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly.
Although sailing will encounter many dangers, as far as the journey to the Southeast Asia is concerned, as long as there are no extreme storms or accidents such as running aground on rocks, the dangers are not great.
After all, the fleet mostly sails along the coastline and does not go deep into the sea for too long.
"What's wrong?"
Gu Zhengchen looked at Xiao Cheng, who had a strange face.
Xiao Cheng frowned, smelled the sea breeze, and shook his head: "There seems to be a fishy smell, like-"
Lin Baifan smiled and said: "I guess it must be the smell of fish, so fishing is inevitable when going to sea."
Seeing Xiao Cheng's serious expression, Gu Zhengchen looked at the approaching fleet.
The ships of Chen Dahe, Wang Futu and others docked first, followed by the warships.
When Zhang He, Huang Senping and others stepped off the boat, they could obviously smell a foul smell, and this smell was not the smell of dead fish at all.
Seeing Xiao Cheng standing beside him, Gu Zhengchen realized what he was talking about. He shook his head slightly and stepped forward with a smile: "Commander Zhang, Commander Huang, and General Chu... It seems that you have gained a lot from this trip. It looks like, Not only did they bring goods, but they also brought some prey.”
Zhang He laughed loudly, walked forward and looked at Gu Zhengchen, took out a document and handed it over: "We tried something like that, and the effect was surprisingly good. This is the killing effect recorded in the military documents."
Gu Zhengchen knew that "that thing" referred to the Shanhai Cannon. He didn't need to open it to look at it. Just looking at the smiling faces of Zhang He, Huang Senping and others, he knew that the effect was amazing.
Gunpowder bombs and stone bombs are completely different things. Stone bombs kill by smashing them. To put it bluntly, they are no different from bricks. But gunpowder bombs kill by exploding. The cast iron fragments kill one piece at a time. This is the most amazing thing. .
"Are there any casualties?"
Gu Zhengchen asked.
Zhang He stared in awe.
The man in front of him did not care about how many enemies he killed or how many prisoners he captured, but he cared about the casualties among his own people. This shows that in his heart, the life and death of the sergeant is greater than the credit. Such a person will not sacrifice the sergeant for some petty merit.
"No casualties!"
Zhang He replied in a deep voice.
Huang Senping stepped forward and handed over a document: "This is the list and quantity of goods exchanged for Champa. However, Li Chengyi did not follow us back. He insisted on following the king of Champa to make Peng'e, make Peng'e Lixian Corporal, and take him away. When we came back, we heard that Li Chengyi already had an official position."
Gu Zhengchen raised his brows, thought for a moment, and said, "Respect his choice. He is no longer my master. It's hard to keep him here. You guys should take a shower first. The smell of corpses is too unpleasant." .”
Chu Xing complained: "Come back without the head. There is no merit. Come back with the head. We didn't bring enough lime, so it turned out to be rotten. The head is crawling..."
"Shut up!"
Zhang He saw that everyone on the side was beginning to feel unwell and quickly stopped Chu Xing.
Gu Zhengchen didn't mind, and called Xiao Cheng and Lin Baifan to board the ship for inspection, and then walked out calmly and without changing his expression under the surprised eyes of Zhang He, Huang Senping and others.
Xiao Cheng's face looked a little ugly. Lin Baifan had vomited three times.
Facing Gu Zhengchen with such a strong mind, Zhang He, Huang Senping and others couldn't help but admire him, but they were also very puzzled. Xiao Cheng could bear it because he had seen such scenes too many times, but Gu Zhengchen was just a civil servant at a young age. Wen Chen should have never seen such a disgusting scene, how could he endure it?
Gu Zhengchen spoke to Chen Dahe, Wang Futu and others, and then shouted: "I am going to hold a banquet at this port to entertain you who have been working hard!"
The chefs of Jinjiang City Restaurant were recruited, and a bunch of ingredients, tables and stools were brought to Quanzhou Port.
After Zhang He and others came out from bathing and changing clothes, the port was already in full swing, and cold dishes and drinks were already being served on the table.
Gu Zhengchen was looking through the documents on the damage effects of firearms and said to Zhang He, Huang Senping and others who were sitting down: "The new firearms have been tested in actual combat and achieved amazing damage. This news must be reported to His Majesty as soon as possible. The fleet has brought such a A lot of trade goods are coming, and I saw on the list that there are also crowns, golden jade Buddhas, and golden nanmu. These things need to be sent to the palace, and the remaining goods need to be exchanged for money and food in Jinling and other places."
Zhang He looked at Gu Zhengchen worriedly: "The matter of firearms can be reported to the Marquis of Jinghai to inform His Majesty, but no one dares to send these goods to Jinling. Even if someone dares to go, they dare not sell them openly. After all, the imperial court prohibits them from going to sea... "
Gu Zhengchen thought about it and realized that this was indeed a problem.
If it were said that this was brought back by the navy when they were chasing pirates, no one would believe it.
And in this name, all goods belong to the court and need to be turned over in full. By then, without Lao Zhu's words, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Governor's Office would all reach out to ask for it, and his work would have been in vain...
If it were said directly that this was something obtained from the voyage trade, a group of officials would probably start impeaching themselves again.
It is not easy to leave this matter to others.
"I need to go back to Jinling."
Gu Zhengchen said seriously.
Zhang He, Huang Senping and others were shocked.
Xiao Cheng also frowned and reminded: "Right now, you are the only official in Quanzhou Prefecture, and the Tongzhi and Tongpan have not yet taken office. If you go to Jinling, who will handle the many things here?"
Gu Zhengchen nodded, not being able to leave was indeed a troublesome thing.
But to convince Lao Zhu to open the sea, he must know that Kaihai can "rob" the big households and use things to take out the money and food from the big households. This kind of risky thing needs to be done personally.
Gu Zhengchen thought for a while and said to Zhang He: "Quanzhou Mansion cannot be left unattended. I will choose a good candidate. But before that, I need to send a document to Your Majesty. I can only return to Jinling after receiving Your Majesty's permission."
Zhang He nodded.
Local officials and generals of the guard station are not allowed to leave the place without permission, let alone go directly to Jinling. Unless the emperor allows it, or report on his duties regularly.
The report of my work was made two years ago, and I entered Jinling every three years.
It's already February, so it's naturally impossible to report on my duties, so I can only ask for orders first.
Don't dare to cut it off first and report it later, it's easy to violate taboos.
Zhang He asked: "What do we need to do?"
Gu Zhengchen thought for a while and said: "My documents cannot be sent eight hundred miles to be rushed, but your documents reporting victory can. I hope this document can be sent to Aurous Hill together with the Navy's victory report."
"I don't think Marquis Jinghai will refuse."
Zhang He said.
Gu Zhengchen smiled.
Following the normal procedure, it would take at least thirty days to send a document to Jinling and back. However, if we take the shortcut route of sending a letter to Jinling and then sending it back, it may only take twenty days.
Zhang He and Huang Senping began to talk about sailing. When they talked about the control of Peng'e, Gu Zhengchen smiled and said: "With the strength of Peng'e and the weakness of the Chen Dynasty in Annan, in a few years, Peng'e will go there again." Go to Thang Long City."
Huang Senping nodded heavily: "It's hard to say whether we can hit Thang Long City, but war preparations are indeed underway in Champa. Zhi Peng'e has tamed many elephants. I heard that these elephant soldiers are an important weapon for Zhi Peng'e to defeat the Annan army. We I have seen elephants. They have huge bodies, thighs like pillars, and rough skin and thick flesh, making them very difficult to deal with."
Zhang He picked up the wine glass and said: "The elephant soldiers are indeed difficult to fight, but we must find a way to restrain the elephant soldiers. You must know that the King of Liang in Yunnan also holds elephant soldiers in his hands. One day, sooner or later, the imperial court will use troops in Yunnan."
Gu Zhengchen waved his hand: "There is no need to worry about these things. Elephants are also afraid."
Zhang He's eyes lit up, and he understood that what Gu Zhengchen was talking about was the Shanhai Cannon. Thinking of the terrifying damage, it seemed that this thing could be used to hit slow elephants.
When encountering Shanhaicannon, the bigger you are, the harder you will be beaten...
Gu Zhengchen stood up and raised his glass, shouting: "You all took the risk to go to sea. Now that everyone is safe and have returned with a full load, it will be a revelation! Drink in victory!"
"Drink victory!"
Everyone raised their glasses.
Gu Zhengchen drank it all in one gulp and continued to say to everyone: "My wish is to open the sea again and restore the glory of Quanzhou Prefecture! I hope you will be of one mind with me and move towards each other. May your Majesty have mercy on the people of Quanzhou Prefecture and open the sea for trade! For Quanzhou Prefecture, drink victoriously!"...?
"Drink victory!"
Everyone drank the wine from the glass again.
Gu Zhengchen filled his glass with wine, slowly looked at everyone, raised his glass again, and said with a smile: "Everyone is a good person, here's to you! Drink to win!"
Everyone shouted "Don't dare" and drank wine.
Gu Zhengchen arranged for the Quanzhou Guards to lead sergeants in the four fields to take care of the Quanzhou Port, seal the cargo on the ship, and send people to strictly guard it. As for the heads, a pile of lime needs to be sent in to cover them up...
Just keep the prisoners locked up, they won't starve to death for a whole day anyway.
Gu Zhengchen did not stay in Quanzhou Port for long, but returned to the government office with relevant documents. He wrote a document and ordered it to be handed over to Zhang He. Zhang He sent someone to deliver the document and the victory report to Fuzhou, where they were sent to the Marquis of Jinghai. To Jinling.
But just two days after Gu Zhengchen's documents were sent, Lu Zongyi, who participated in the politics of Fujian Province, arrived at the government office.
Gu Zhengchen was quite surprised to see Lu Zongyi again.
After all, the affairs of Quanzhou Prefecture are under his own control, and people from the province do not need to interfere. Besides, there is no trouble in Quanzhou Prefecture, so why is Lu Zongyi here?
When he saw Lu Changyan coming with a big package on his back, Gu Zhengchen was even more confused and asked: "Lu Shenzheng, are you being kicked out and have no place to live?"
Lu Zongyi saw Gu Zhengchen's eccentric attitude and was not polite. He chuckled and said, "You'd better kneel down and talk."
"Well?"
Gu Zhengchen stared, and then saw Lu Zongyi taking out the imperial edict from his sleeve...
Damn it!
Lu Zongyi was so proud that he did not unfold the imperial edict and handed it over directly: "Your Majesty has an edict for you, see for yourself. You are right, I - I was indeed driven here..."
