Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 262 Sun Shiyi's Plan
Two days later, when Tusab took Chen Xinhuai who hurried to Guangzhou City to meet Sun Shiyi, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi was already considering how to expel him by force, and had already sent his cronies to look for the masters to find out how to destroy the giant iron ship monster. means of law.

When Chen Xinhuai reported to Sun Shiyi, he said that Zhao Ni himself was on the boat, which surprised Sun Shiyi. He didn't expect Zhao Ni to come by boat in person.Later, Chen Xinhuai mentioned that Zhao Ni was not ashamed to say that he was able to blow up the Humen Fort with five artillery pieces and the Guangzhou city wall with two artillery pieces. The idea of ​​using force to solve it.

If this can break the opponent's sorcery, seize the big ship, and even capture Zhao Xin, not to mention the promotion and honor, this great achievement is enough to honor the ancestors!Although Sun Shiyi is 65 this year, he is nearly seventy years old, but he always wants to climb higher and make a difference.

If you want to be promoted quickly, the most important thing is military merit!

Since you want to do it, you must first calculate the strength of the troops.Sun Shiyi's own Supervising Biao Third Battalion has a total of 2700 troops, and the Zhaoqing Navy Battalion has more than 800 people.There are more than 4000 people in the fifth battalion in Tusab, and there are less than 3000 people in General Cuntai in Guangzhou.And these are immobile
So this unlucky and glorious task fell to the deputy general of the Xiangshan Association.After receiving Sun Shiyi's summoning order, the deputy general rushed to Guangzhou without stopping, and was instructed by the governor face-to-face, and then returned to the Xiangshan County resident with a Taoist priest invited from Sanyuan Palace in Guangzhou.

The reason why this task fell on Xiangshan Association is because of the patrol system in the outer seas of Guangdong. Xiangshan Association is responsible for patrolling the outer seas in the second half of the year. As the saying goes, who will you not go to?

But when the deputy general summoned his battalions and announced the military order of the governor, a general who came to the meeting raised objections.The lieutenant general looked at it, and said in his heart who I knew, it turned out to be this guy.The right battalion guard is none other than Li Dagang, who had failed to escape from prison many times in Beihai town labor camp!
After Li Dagang was released at the beginning of the year, he stayed in Beijing for a few months. During this period, he spent money and trusted others, trying to manage his official position, thinking that I should stay away from those monsters.

He was originally a fourth-rank second-class bodyguard, and it was impossible to become a fourth-rank official after he was released, so the Ministry of War transferred him to Xiangshan Association as a fifth-rank right battalion guard.

Although Li Dagang was a little discouraged, his family was in Dongguan, so he could go home and visit often.As a result, he made all kinds of calculations and plans, but Zhao Ni came to Guangdong by boat again.A few days ago, he heard that there was a big boat coming from Tanzai Island. After inquiring carefully, he almost cried, God of Plague, why don't you let me go no matter where you go? !
"My lord, Biaoxia knows a little about those monsters. If we want to make a move this time, we need to plan carefully."

Hearing Li Dagang's words, Master Shi, the deputy general of Xiangshan Association, curled his lips, and said with a sneer: "Sun Zhitai had planned a long time ago, and specially invited Daoist Ma from Sanyuan Palace. Break its sorcery! Then the battalions attack, board the ship and destroy the enemy!"

"Large formation?" Li Dagang was taken aback for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "I don't know what kind of formation it is?"

The deputy general glanced at everyone in the hall, and said with a smile: "I invite Master Ma."

As soon as the words fell, a Taoist priest with a fairy face, a kind face, and white beard and hair walked in.

"My lords, at the beginning of Xiama, the fifteenth generation successor of the Longmen sect in Luofu Mountain is now stationed in Xi Sanyuan Palace."

At this time, everyone only listened to the deputy general's words: "Master Ma was specially invited by Sun Zhitai from Sanyuan Palace. As for the matter of breaking the enemy's magic, Daoist Ma will do it."

Li Dagang's eyeballs almost popped out, thinking that this is a joke? !He stayed in Beihai Town for nearly two years, so he knew some details.Where is the sorcery, it is all mechanical power.

It is said that when digging for gold on Solenji Island, a sand pump in the mine broke down, and Zhao Liang came by boat to fix it.Li Dagang could see clearly at that time that the sand pump was full of gears and other metal parts, and there was no evil spirit at all.But this was also the reason why he became more and more afraid. He thought that one of these machines in Beihai Town could withstand the strength of a hundred people. If the imperial court wanted to win, they would need at least a hundred thousand soldiers and horses, all by land and water!
"My lord! I think that for this sneak attack, we need to prepare more gunpowder boats, quietly approach the side of the thief boat, and then light the gunpowder. Our army boarded the boat with ropes from the other side while the enemy was in a panic. That's it. , Fang has the strength to fight!"

"It's a joke! Sun Zhitai once came to the vicinity of the pirate ship and observed it with his own eyes before formulating a strategy. It's your turn to question it!"

Li Dagang finally tried his best to say: "My lord! Zhao Ni's bow artillery is as fast as lightning. If I don't sneak attack, it will be very difficult for us to get close. Please learn from me!"

With a sneer on his face, the deputy general said proudly: "Sun Zhitai has made a plan for this matter. Apart from the practice of Daoist Ma opening the altar, the official has notified the Xiangshan County Government and ordered him to call all the prostitutes in the city. Whore, when the time comes to set up a large array of vulva, any quick cannon will have to be turned into a firestick!"

As soon as this remark came out, all the generals in the room burst into laughter and exclaimed: "Your Excellency, this is a great move!"

The lieutenant general waved his hand and said: "I don't have any good opinion, this is all ordered by the master of Taiwan, plus the spell of Taoist Ma."

Daoist Ma Benchu ​​said modestly, "Wuliang Tianzun, Sun Zhitai's words are very consistent with the principle of yin and yang. The so-called old yin and yang are nothing more than this. I am ashamed of the poor way of doing things! Then I will fight!" Even if you have a poor life, you must also prevent the evil tricks of the rebels from succeeding. I think the emperor and Sun Zhitai share the worries."

Li Dagang looked at the generals who were all laughing and smug in the room, but what came to his mind was incomparably grotesque and desolate. How could such a group of people break the thief?

At the end of the military discussion, the deputy general conveyed Sun Shiyi's order to the garrison officers of each battalion. In the early morning of three days later, when the sun was not strong, a large formation was formed around the enemy ships on Tanzai Island, and then an attack was launched, striving to wipe out the enemy ships. Zhao Ni's troops captured the big ship.

When Li Dagang heard this, he thought that the early morning is the time when people's spirits are at their worst and their defenses are at their lowest, so it seems that there is still a chance.

After returning to the camp that afternoon, Li Dagang ordered his subordinates to make flags of various styles according to Ma Benchu's requirements, and at the same time ordered his cronies to collect a lot of small fishing boat sampans and prepare to fill them with gunpowder bags.He still felt that his method was the safest, a dozen fishing boats filled with gunpowder, even if they could not sink Zhao Ni's big iron boat, at least they would be able to blow up a big hole!
So starting from the second day, there was a mess inside and outside Xiangshan County.More than 100 bustards, wives, teachers, etc. from various brothels, women over 25 years old, were chained with ropes by the county government officials, and taken to the teaching ground in Xiangshan City to stand by.

At the same time, the Taoist priest named Ma Benchu ​​also set up an altar by the sea, put on a cassock and began to practice.Before going to the Sanyuan Palace, this person had been practicing in the Chongxu Temple in Huizhou; and in the Chongxu Temple, there was a very famous immortal-Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun, that is, Leizu of Taoism.

Sun Shiyi thought very carefully.Since Zhao Ni's big ship is called the Thunder God, he asked the Taoist Lei Zu to descend to earth to restrain the opponent.

The horse originally loosened its hair, burned a sacrificial rite, bit the tip of its tongue, sprayed a mouthful of blood on the mahogany sword, and muttered something.The deputy general of the Xiangshan Association, the county magistrate of Xiangshan County, Chen Xinhuai of the Tongzhi Yamen of Haiphong and others stood aside.

"Ceremony of conversion of ambition and destiny. Nine heavens should be in Yuanfu, the supreme king of Yuqing. Transformed into form and filled the ten directions, talking about Taoism and turning nine phoenixes and stars on the stage, never stop changing. Exorcising evil spirits, protecting life and protecting body. Wisdom is clear and pure, Peace of mind. The three souls are eternal, and the soul is not lost. Urgent as a law!"

Everyone waited for more than an hour, and suddenly the sea was overcast, rumbling thunder sounded, and soon it began to rain heavily.But the people present completely forgot that it is the typhoon season in July and August, and the fact that the coast of Guangdong is already rainy. They were all overjoyed and shouted, "The emperor is wise, and there is hope to break the thief!"

Chen Xinhuai stood under the umbrella, and after bowing respectfully to the north, he smiled with his beard and said: "Lei Zu breaks the god of thunder, hum, bandit Zhao, let me see how long you can be proud!"

The heavy rain lasted all day and night, during which there were thunder and lightning.Long purple lightning streaked across the sky, tearing people apart.However, the morale of the generals of the Xiangshan Association was greatly boosted, and they were all gearing up to prepare for the battle; except for Li Dagang.
Two days later in the evening, a lucky boat departing from Quanzhou arrived at the entrance of the Leiyumen Strait on Hong Kong Island, and Shen Jingdan and his party were on board.

It is said that in the Qing Dynasty, there were eight entrances to Guangzhou from the outer sea. Foreign merchant ships went through the Humen, and passenger ships went through the Hutiaomen.Humen is in the northeast of Macau, while Hutiaomen is in the west of Macau.

Shen Jingdan and the others arrived in Quanzhou on July [-]th.Thanks to his many years of traveling in Nagasaki, he met many businessmen from Zhejiang and Fujian.After the group arrived in Quanzhou, they found a lucky boat bound for Guangzhou at the Zhejiang Guild Hall one day later.Most of the masters who went south with Lu Shoushan this time were from Shandong, and every one of them gritted their teeth and carried it hard when they sat on the boat.As a result, two of them fell ill as soon as they arrived in Quanzhou. Lu Shoushan was helpless, so he left two more and asked them to ask a doctor to take care of their companions.

After the Fuchuan sailed from Quanzhou, it soon arrived at Nan'ao Island, which belongs to Shantou. However, due to a heavy rain, they had to stay on Nan'ao Island for a day, and did not enter the waters of Xiangshan County until today.

When you get here, you are not far from Guangzhou.Shen Jingdan and his group were all anxious to get angry, at this moment, their eyes were red and their mouths were fishy.Even Chen Jishan, who practiced martial arts all the year round, was exhausted, and he didn't even have the strength to speak.

At this time, the bow of the ship went down to the cabin, exhorting Shen Jingdan and others. "Everyone, Leiyumen is [-] miles ahead. This area is the territory of the Zheng family. I'm going to go to the Tianhou Palace to offer incense at that time. It's good for you to stay in the cabin. If there are other people on board later, You must not make a sound, and do not go on the deck, I will deal with it."

"Oh, okay, I'm sorry." Although Shen Jingdan had been to Guangdong before, he had always traveled by land, but he had also heard that there were pirates in the Pearl River Estuary.

After hearing this, Lu Shoushan and others agreed with a blank face.As soon as the bow left, Lu Shoushan and several of his men took out their revolvers and began to check, and a dozen other masters also took out short knives from their luggage and put them in their pockets.

In the corner, Chen Jishan's younger sister, Chen Erya, was holding a wooden bucket, retching non-stop; Shen Xuan was stroking Chen Erya's back.Originally bringing Chen Erya here to let her take care of Shen Xuan, who would have thought that since leaving Quanzhou, Chen Erya would become increasingly seasick and vomit all the time, but it turned out that Shen Xuan took care of her all the way.

The Lei Yue Mun Strait is the exit of the east coast of Victoria Harbour, which belongs to Kwun Tong, Kowloon.The width of the waterway here is less than one kilometer, and there are high mountains on both sides. It has become a military center outside the Pearl River Estuary in the Tang and Song Dynasties.According to folklore, if a carp jumps over this place, it will turn into a Kowloon.

When Zheng Yi's grandfather, Zheng Jian, came here, he saw that the mountain was steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack, so he occupied Cha Guo Ling in the north as his nest.However, since the Zheng family came, Cha Guo Ling has been called "Devil's Mountain" by fishermen.

The Tin Hau Temple on the seashore at the foot of the mountain is next to the Lei Yue Mun Strait. This is the outpost of the Zheng family guarding the water here; there are Zheng family men stationed here on weekdays to monitor the passing ships.All incoming boats must stop and disembark, and the Zheng family will ask for water diversion fees in the name of Shangxiang.

Sure enough, when the lucky boat entered the entrance of Liyumen, a small boat greeted it, with two pirates from the Red Flag Gang sitting on it.

The bow of the boat travels from Quanzhou to Guangzhou several times a year, and he is familiar with the members of the Hongqi Gang.At this time, Fu Chuan put away the sails and carefully docked according to the guidance of the boat.

The bow of the boat walked across the gangway, and as soon as it reached the entrance of Tianhou Palace, it cupped its hands repeatedly at the red flag gangsters who came out of the temple, and said with an apologetic smile, "Master Li, you are all here today. I'll go to offer incense first. talk to you later."

The head of a strong man came over, tilted his head to look at Fu Chuan, and said to the bow of the boat: "Old Hu, it's unlucky for you to come today. Even if you leave Liyumen right now, you won't be able to reach Guangzhou."

The bow known as Lao Hu asked strangely: "Master Li, what's the reason?"

The brawny man said: "Xiangshan Xie Naval Battalion sent a patrol boat and sealed off the waterway to Tanzai Island, saying that they will not be able to pass through it for three days."

When Hu Chuantou heard this, he hurriedly asked, "Oh, what's going on here? Is the Western ghost making trouble?"

Another thin man with his arms bare said: "It's not a Western ghost at all, and I wouldn't dare to borrow their guts. Ten days ago, a big boat came from Tanzai Island and caused a lot of trouble, even us The Red Flag Gang got involved. Originally, there was no movement from the government, but who knows that the waterway was blocked yesterday, and it is estimated that soldiers will be sent to expel it. Who dares to negotiate conditions with the officers and soldiers at this time? I advise you to wait on the boat for two days with peace of mind. Let's go."

The strong man patted Hu Chuantou on the shoulder, sighed and said, "Our young master is also on that boat, damn it! This is going to be a big trouble. Brother Chang is in a hurry to go to the house now."

After Hu Chuantou offered incense in Tianhou Temple, he went back to the boat and took 50 taels of silver to pay the water diversion fee. Then he went to the cabin and explained the situation to Shen Jingdan and others.As a result, Shen Jingdan and the others almost jumped up when they heard it. They really had nowhere to go, and the Thunder God was actually nearby!
"Old Hu, do me a favor and send us to Tanzai Island. The 1000 taels are redeemable at sight, and it's all yours."

Hu Chuantou was shocked and said: "Master Shen, why is this?"

Shen Jingdan said: "To be honest, we came this time to find that boat. Now that we have news, we have to go there immediately!"

"This little guy really doesn't dare!" With 1000 taels of silver, it's no wonder that Hu Chuantou wasn't tempted, but he really didn't dare.

"2000 taels!" Shen Jingdan reached into his arms, took out another kraft paper bag, and slapped it on the table.

A pile of bank notes was placed on the table in front of him, Hu Chuantou hesitated for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth: "It's okay to go, but we have to exit here. Let's go south, from Dangan Island, Zhuxiezhou, Che The Macao area goes west, and then goes north to Shizimen. Master Shen, agree in advance that I will leave after sending you to Tanzai Island, and you will be in trouble if you really get involved in a lawsuit."

Shen Jingdan and others were overjoyed when they heard that they were able to walk, and they all bowed their hands to Hu Chuantou to express their thanks.

So Hu Bow hurriedly returned to the deck and ordered the sailors to raise the sail and anchor.The Zheng family guarding the Tin Hau Temple saw that Lao Hu was about to leave, so they hurriedly asked. Lao Hu stood at the bow of the boat and just said that he would return to Nan'ao to wait, without any other explanation.The Zheng family also followed the rules. They said that if you come back in a few days, there will be no water diversion fee.

On board the Thunder God at this time, Zhao Xin and the others knew nothing about the arrangement of the Qing army. Except for those who were on duty in the cabin, the group of people were either sitting on the deck and blowing the wind, or they were sitting in the cabin, waiting boredly. News of Shen Jingdan's arrival.During the period, Zhao Xin and Zheng Yi also chatted about what happened on the Pearl River, and learned a little more about the situation in this era.

At this time, the days were almost over, and Liu Zheng communicated with the ship by telegram every day, but there was no one in Guangzhou, so Zhao Xin couldn't help but feel worried.

(End of this chapter)