Li Guozhu's boat was not big, but it cut through the waves like a knife. It was faster than a fish, and it sailed in front of Yan Siqi and others in the blink of an eye.
"Brother, Liniang's new sweetheart is a gambler. He was being chased for debts and sold us for a reward of money. Now the government's Japanese anti-Japanese army is chasing us, let's leave quickly!"
Assistant Li Guo announced loudly and danced.
Liniang was one of Yan Siqi's subordinates at the Yuegang secret post. A few days ago, when Zheng Haizhu went there according to Shi Yuelan's instructions, he saw the woman who was always sitting at the door mending clothes.
Yan Siqi, who was standing at the bow of the ship, changed his expression after hearing Li Guozhu's words, and ordered the sailors without hesitation: "Weigh the anchor!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he realized again what Zheng Haizhu should do.
Before he could think about it, there was chaos on the beach not far away, and the women and children who had returned from the sea fled in a hurry.
The famous sergeant came on horseback, shouting: "Catch the Japanese pirates, the court will arrest the Japanese pirates!"
Li Guo said urgently: "Brother, let's go quickly. My brothers and I will hold them back."
Yan Siqi said in a sharp voice: "Why don't we just go and fight with them!"
He was not impulsive, but he couldn't let Li Dan's eldest son take on the enemy alone.
However, at this moment, Li Guozhu showed a different calmness than before, and said loudly across the side of the ship: "Brother, don't be impatient. The boat brought by my younger brother has a crossbow machine and a musket. Moreover, we are wave-breaking boats and we can sail fast..."
Before he could even say the word "quickly", he heard a "swish" sound, and the sergeant who was at the forefront on the beach missed his shot. Fortunately, his aim was wrong, and the bronze arrow fell into the sea.
Li Guoshu immediately raised his voice and called to the sailors on the other two boats that came with him: "Hold them off for the big brother's boat first, and shoot the arrows first! Also fill the muskets with medicine."
He immediately turned around and roared: "Brother, are you going to die in a daze? Get out of the port quickly, and we will catch up with you. If you don't meet her at sea, we'll meet you directly in Penghu."
Yan Siqi came to talk to Zheng Haizhu today, and because he was disguising himself as a fisherman and could not arouse the suspicion of other boatmen at the ferry, all the firearms, bows and crossbows were left on the big boat outside. He and the sailors only brought Japanese knives with them.
Now I see that Li Guozhu has a good plan for arranging and firing arrows. If he continues to stay, he will not only drag down the brothers, but also may lose Young Master Li's face in front of everyone.
Yan Siqi then no longer delayed, ordered Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Haizhu to get into the cabin, and took the helm himself. He then turned to look up at the bamboo sail that had been quickly raised by the sailors, carefully discerned the wind direction, avoided the rocks, and sailed out of the harbor.
Just after sailing out of the range of the copper arrows on the beach, Zheng Haizhu got out of the cabin and heard only a few "boom booms". However, he saw that Li Guozhu and the others had already set up blunderbuss, suppressed the sergeants who arrived for reinforcements, and tried to escape as soon as possible.
But it backfired.
Not long after the weapons and arrows stopped, just as Li Guozhu's fleet was approaching Yan Siqi's ship, several more flames suddenly flashed on the sea, followed by the same rumbling sound just now.
Zheng Zhilong exclaimed: "It couldn't be that it encountered a patrol ship."
Yan Siqi handed the helm to his men, turned around, and raised his binoculars.
Dusk has fallen, the sea is dim, and only the shadow of the boat can be seen.
Yan Siqi put down the telescope and said in a deep voice: "Guozhu and the others have set up a triangular formation. They should be facing the official ship. It is too dark to see clearly, but from the sound, the official ship also has blunderbuss and no small cannons."
The young man Zheng Zhilong seemed to be quite familiar with firearms, and he spoke in a slightly calmer tone: "It's okay if they don't have cannons. Brother Guozhu and his boats are small and can run fast. Bird guns and big fire guns will soon be unable to do anything to them." "
Yan Siqi said "Hmm", looked up at the half-moon rising in the east, stretched out his hand and said with certainty: "God help me, the northeast wind has turned to the northwest. If the wind direction continues like this, we will be near Penghu Island in the middle of the night."
After a while, the sea surface where the battle was taking place in the distance became quiet.
Yan Siqi raised the telescope again.
The mirror was pitch black.
In today's Ming Dynasty, after the opening of Yuegang and Macau for trade, Japanese pirates have become a thing of the past. However, if pirates are caught on patrol, Japanese pirates can still repay their merits.
If the official ship had the upper hand, they would definitely arrest people and seize the ship. Even in the dark, torches would be lit in that direction and there would be a lot of noise.
Therefore, Yan Siqi finally felt relieved, and the silence in the distance could only mean that the official ship could no longer catch up with the small boat, and the boat was on its way back.
Yan Siqi sat down on the edge of the cable, took a sip of wine and said, "Brothers Guozhu may arrive in Penghu before us."
The boss' final words dispelled the tense and oppressive atmosphere. The sailors who were not at the helm or looking at the sails also put on blankets to keep out the cold, leaned against the side of the ship, and chatted away.
Yan Siqi entered the cabin and took out his wind robe and handed it to Zheng Haizhu.
Seeing her take it without saying a word, wrap it around her body slowly, and then remain silent, Yan Siqi thought that she was in panic.
"Azhu, I didn't expect to be in danger suddenly," Yan Siqi said warmly, "The situation just now makes it really impossible for you to go ashore."
Zheng Zhilong also added softly from the side: "Yes, Sister Azhu, even if you pretend that you are a woman kidnapped by pirates, if you jump into the sea and escape to the shore, you will still be easily injured by arrows."
Zheng Haizhu raised his head and chuckled.
It turned out that they thought they were depressed because they had to go to the open sea with the ship for no reason.
Zheng Haizhu smiled and said: "You are thinking too much, how can I be angry? I am just thinking about how to find an excuse to talk to the Weaving Bureau when I go back if this trip is delayed. Brother Yiguan's reason is good, I was taken over by Hai It was robbed."
Yan Siqi was relieved and said with a smile: "We were still talking about Taiwan at first. Since we have already arrived in Penghu, why not go to Bengang in Taiwan to see it this time?"
"Okay." Zheng Zhilong agreed excitedly.
Zheng Haizhu also responded, "Okay, I want to go too," but there was still another tension in her heart.
In fact, she kept her solemn expression without knowing it just now because she was really deep in thought.
She always felt that there was something fishy about what happened today.
…
"Sister Azhu, Penghu is almost here."
Zheng Haizhu was alone in the cabin. As soon as she started to take a nap in the lake, Zheng Zhilong came in to call her.
Zheng Haizhu sat up straight and woke up.
She couldn't help but sigh, the Penghu Islands are so close to the mainland. This is an ancient wind-powered ship. It only takes three or four hours.
She walked out of the cabin, and Yan Siqi stood under the torch, looking at the starboard while asking the helmsman to fine-tune the direction.
"Brother Yan, I heard that there are dozens of islands in Penghu. Which one should our big ship stop at?"
"Stop on a small island southwest of Huayu Island," Yan Siqi said. "It is hidden and uninhabited. The imperial navy will not go there."
Zheng Haizhu nodded.
In the last years of Wanli, the Penghu Islands were indeed still under the control of the Ming Empire, and the troops patrolling the sea routes often went to patrol.
Historically, it was not until the early years of the Apocalypse that the Dutch occupied the main island of Penghu and built fortresses with their strong ships and cannons. The Ming Empire officially sent troops to fight the Dutch and regained control of Penghu and surrounding waterways. But the Dutch took the opportunity to move east and occupy Taiwan.
At this moment, Zheng Haizhu also walked under the torch and stood beside Yan Siqi, trying to open his eyes wide and look at the vast night sea.
She couldn't help but feel excited.
After all, in later modern times, she had never seen the Penghu Islands, nor had she seen this beautiful island that had belonged to China since ancient times.
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