1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 7 Zheng Zhilong

Liu Xiang looked at the village that was caught in the raging fire, with a hideous expression on his face, killing, destroying, dying... It seemed that all these would make him feel extremely excited and happy, as if he was the master of this world.

"Xiang Lao, we should go." Li Husan said, it was already dawn, and it would be dawn in a while.All right, all evacuated in the middle of the night.But a group of pirates procrastinated and made troubles from time to time, murdered, raped women, hid property privately, and set fires indiscriminately.In addition, under Zhang Yijie's arrangement, Liu Xiang and the two women tossed and tossed for half a night, and no one dared to urge them.Therefore, until this time, the final evacuation began.

"Let's go!" Liu Xiang turned around and was about to ride a scavenged donkey, but her waist flashed and she staggered, and Li Husan hurried forward to support her.

"Xiang Lao! Xiang Lao..." At this time, Kang Yongzu trotted over from a distance.

"What's the matter?" Liu Xiang stabilized her figure and took hold of the donkey's rein.

"Xiang guy!...Cao Xiong's Shandong people are too much!" Kang Yongzu said out of breath, "At night, Cao Xiong detained eight or nine of my brothers for no reason, and they humiliated and beat them !"

"Huh?" Liu Xiang looked at Kang Yongzu in surprise, "Did you provoke them?"

"Xiang Lao, how could I provoke him for no reason!" Kang Yongzu said, "Dingkou, who was kidnapped last night, ran away on the road. The brothers chased him, but the piglet escaped to Cao Xiong and the others." ...not only did they not help lock up the piggies, they even beat and humiliated my brothers who were chasing after me."

"Oh..." Liu Xiang frowned. Cao Xiong and his gang have joined for less than two years. They are powerful and have many firearms.Because they have always been self-contained, and they are somewhat incompatible with Liu Xiang and his group of professional pirates.

"...Azu, tell me, is Cao Xiong dissatisfied with us because we don't let him lead people to fight in the village?" Liu Xiang asked, rubbing his chin.

"Ah?" Kang Yongzu was stunned. Boss, I am complaining about Cao Xiong bullying my subordinates, but you want to ask me, is he dissatisfied with you?
"Cao Xiong and the others didn't get any benefit from going ashore this time. Instead, they want to guard our retreat. Are those who beat you demonstrating against me?" Liu Xiang smiled.

"Xiang..." Kang Yongzu was a little puzzled, "Cao Xiong dares to demonstrate to you, I will take my brothers to annex him!"

"Huo Bin? There are five or six hundred people in the family, and they are all capable of fighting!... How many brothers are you going to kill to go fire and merge them?" Liu Xiang shook her head and said.

"Then..." Kang Yongzu also talked about it, Cao Xiong and the others, as the former Dengzhou rebels, not to mention sharp firearms, even fighting in battle, they are not the pirates who can easily annihilate.

"Ah Hu, go and pick up two boxes of jewels and send them to Cao Xiong!...Well, pick a few more women and send them to me too." Liu Xiang turned to Li Husan and ordered.

Li Husan hesitated for a moment, but said nothing, and left as promised.

"Xiang Lao..." Kang Yongzu looked at Liu Xiang, a little dissatisfied.

"Azu, we are all brothers, don't let the small lose the big!" Liu Xiang patted Kang Yongzu on the shoulder, "We are still very weak now, we need to rely on each other, we can't fight each other... Don't worry, brother will never fight against each other." It will make you suffer all the time, after all, we are old brothers for many years." After speaking, he rode on the donkey and headed for the distant pier.

On the fourth day of the fourth lunar month, Liu Xiangshi, a giant bandit on the sea, invaded Zhangpu with more than [-] boats, destroyed Dongli Town, looted all over the country, destroyed [-] houses, and led more than [-] villagers, including dozens of women and countless belongings. The next day, I went south to escape from Hainan.

"Brother, if we go out like this, what if we fail to stop Liu Xiang and let that guy run away, or he comes directly to harass Zhangxia, what should we do?"

In the dark night, in the sea off Xiamen, Fujian Province, a large-scale fleet of more than 40 ships, including more than 400 armed merchant ships of more than 900 tons to more than 15 tons, is on the vast ocean. , with 25-[-] Hongyi cannons on it.This is the most powerful armed force in China and even Southeast Asia, belonging to the Zheng Zhilong brothers who have risen rapidly in the past ten years.

Since the Jiajing Year, there have been many heroes on the sea, especially in the Tianqi Year, when natural disasters and man-made disasters continued on the mainland, some sea merchants and even fishermen off the coast went to the sea one after another, pretending to be pirates.Small groups of armed forces are not counted, and those who can be called "giant bandits" include Li Dan and Yan Siqi in front, Zheng Zhilong, Yang Liu (Yang Lu), Yang Qi (Yang Ce), Wednesday, Li Kuiqi, Zhong Bin, Liu Xiang, etc. Wait.

However, since the imperial court recruited Zheng Zhilong, the maritime forces have started a new round of reshuffle.At this time, the largest sea power in Southeast Asia and even the coastal waters of China belonged to the Dutch.They conquered the local natives in Kalimantan, Brahman and other Southeast Asian islands, established colonial forces, and developed the spice trade.After that, it also invaded Taiwan, set up colonial institutions, and monopolized some overseas trade with Ming Dynasty.Therefore, Zheng Zhilong first took the initiative to reach an agreement with the Dutch East India Company, and the two sides peacefully coexisted without attacking each other.Since then, the two sides have entered a period of peace.Zheng Zhilong used this time to free up his hands to help the imperial court wipe out the old sea brothers and further expand his sphere of influence. Most of the pirates were subdued by him, and only a few pirate gangs such as Liu Xiang remained in the sea. Happy at sea.

Seeing that Zheng Zhilong is gradually going to monopolize the maritime trade from the coast of China to Japan, as well as some parts of Southeast Asia, this has greatly damaged the commercial interests of the Dutch East India Company.So he broke the five-year peace period with Zheng Zhilong.

In the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633), the Dutch attacked Xiamen on the grounds of asking the Ming Dynasty to allow the opening of the market, and sank many Ming Dynasty ships, including those of the Zheng Zhilong Group.Zheng Zhilong was very annoyed by this and decided to go to war with the Dutch. On October 1633, 10, the combined army of the Dutch East India Company and the pirate Liu Xiang and the army of Zheng Zhilong started a decisive battle in Liuluowan.

At that time, Zheng Zhilong's firearms were on the same level as the Dutch's firearms, especially cannons, and were not far behind.In terms of the number of ships, the Netherlands has more ships than Zheng Zhilong and has an advantage.In this case, whoever has the better naval tactics will win the war.Zheng Zhilong first used the firepower of the main battleship to cover the small cargo ship to attack the opponent's warship. As a result, this "wolf pack tactic" was very effective, and then hooked the Dutch warship with an iron hook, and then set it on fire.In this sea battle, the combined forces of the Netherlands and Liu Xiang were defeated. More than 100 Dutch soldiers were captured alive, thousands of people were killed or burned to death, five warships were burned, one warship was captured, and more than 50 warships were captured. The boat was burned.Liu Xiang, who was with the Dutchman, also fled.The people of Zhangxia rejoiced, "Since there were Hongyi in Fujian and Guangdong, it has been a news for decades."

At this moment, the brothers Zheng Zhilong and more than 4000 large and small warships, including more than [-] combat personnel including sailors, gunners, and Zhirui, set off from Zhangxia and headed towards Chaoshan Haifeng.

In the cabin of the largest ship in the fleet, which looks like a Hongyi Galen armed ship, the short-tempered second brother Zheng Zhihu walked up and down the cabin impatiently.

"Second brother, stay safe and don't be impatient." Zheng Zhibao, the fifth son, took a look at Zheng Zhilong, who was sitting upright and closed his eyes.

"Yes! Second brother, don't turn around. It's only been two days since I went to sea. Didn't the detailed work arranged by the elder brother have already been reported, and that guy Liu Xiang has already dispatched, and this meeting will most likely be heading for Yuehai." Zheng Zhihu, the third son, said .

Zheng Zhimang (Zheng Zhilong's younger brother) looked at Zheng Zhilong, then at Zheng Zhihu, and simply shut up, staring at the opposite ship plank in a trance.

The cabin fell silent for a while, Zheng Zhihu stared at his elder brother with wide eyes.

Zheng Zhilong, with sword eyebrows and star eyes, has lived on land for a long time in recent years, with a rosy complexion, and he was promoted from the Five Tigers Guerrilla General to Zhangxia Deputy Commander and Deputy Governor, and he is full of official authority.Moreover, at the age of 31, he has conquered Fujian and Guangdong, and commanded Nanyang, which can be said to be full of ambition.

"Hmph, want to sneak attack my Zhangxia?" Zheng Zhilong opened his eyes and snorted coldly, "Does he, Liu Xiang, have the guts?"

"Tian Weiyang!" Zheng Zhilong said, "Tian Weiyang is not far ahead. Let's stop there and stop that thief Liu Xiang!" After speaking, he looked at the brothers in the cabin, "When the time comes, all of them will be surrounded. , don’t let anyone go!... Completely end the grievances between me and this sworn brother!"

"Why are you in Tianweiyang?" Zheng Zhihu was taken aback.

Zheng Zhilong smiled, but did not speak.

"Brother, did you install a secret agent at Liu Xiang's place?" Zheng Zhihu seemed a little awakened.

"Liu Xiang, a lost dog!" Zheng Zhilong stood up from his chair, "Not everyone is as ignorant of current affairs as he is....Hmph, do you think that with the protection of the red-haired ghost, you can fight against me? Even his master, I Dare to hit it with a stick, let alone..., he is just a stray dog?"

Zheng Zhilong looked at the brothers in the hall and said, "Sweep out Liu Xiang and drive away the red-haired ghosts, this sea belongs to our brothers!"

(End of this chapter)