my days with tyrants

He Di, who went north to fight, ultimately failed to reach Penghu ahead of Zheng He, so Lu Yong, who was stationed in Penghu, surrendered directly.

The latter is a full flintlock gun.

And they are all direct descendants of the He family.

but……

Still surrendered without a fight.

In the final analysis, this is an internal matter within the Ming royal family. No matter how wars are fought, it is the Zhu family's business. The people of the Ming Dynasty have experienced various ideological pollution brought by Yang Feng. This is no longer the past.

It's okay to fight, but except for those who have no other choice, who will fight to the end!

Zheng He is also an old acquaintance, and even Lu Yong from Penghu has been very happy doing smuggling with him over the years. Now he brings a huge fleet, and He Di is nowhere to be seen. If he doesn't surrender, will it be a bloody battle to the end?
not worth it.

In fact, except for the Semu Warriors, all other lower-level troops in the Jianwen Dynasty had this mentality.

So He Di had no choice but to lead his powerful fleet to Nan'ao Island.

Anyway, as long as he is still on Nan'ao Island, it is impossible for Zheng He or the fleet in charge of the Southern Expedition to bypass him. After all, there is Humen Fortress in Guangzhou. Once the fleet falls into a continuous attack at Humen Fortress, He Di, who is heading south from Nan'ao Island, will If the Southern Expedition Fleet is blocked at the mouth of the Pearl River, the entire army will eventually be annihilated due to running out of ammunition and reinforcements.

Moreover, you can also watch the Chaozhou gentry on Nan'ao Island to prevent these guys from betraying Jianwen to protect themselves.

This is almost inevitable. After all, everyone knows that the Chaoshan gentry group has been fighting with the Guangfu gentry group headed by the He family. It is impossible to expect them to live and die together when the building is about to collapse. A stab in the back is the way to go. standard.This is also the main reason why He Di had to go north to fight, and he also had to go north to Penghu to fight. It was actually not safe on Nan'ao Island, because the Chaoshan gentry could still stab him in the back when the pressure reached a certain level.

As long as he was in Penghu, Zheng He would not dare to attack Chaoshan beyond him, so that the Chaoshan gentry could guarantee not to betray Jianwen when they were not sure Zheng He could win.

At the same time, the Jianwen court also issued an order to prepare for war along the coast.

It just happened that the elders of Semu had just ordered to summon the young men. The latter was still crying. When they learned that the ruling fleet had gone south, they immediately wiped away their tears as quickly as possible...

No choice!
This is different from going north to attack the capital.

Once the government takes over Guangdong, they will really have no choice but to use men as slaves and women as prostitutes.

Legend has it that Ambassador Yang did not persecute Semu, and even promoted Tie Xuan to governor before, but the problem was that Semu in the Jianwen Dynasty was against the party.

Don't talk about him, even in the time of Taizu, they still wanted to confiscate their homes and exterminate their families.

So now, let alone fifteen to fifty, anyone who can take up arms must take up arms. Even women must take up arms. In short, semu military households from all over Guangdong are like the Eight Banners garrisoned in Nanjing during the time of King Hong Tian, ​​and they have entered the clan. A state of bloody fight to the end.Then those near Guangzhou were the first to complete their arming, and they even quickly provided Jianwen with [-] troops. Although the youngest among these [-] troops was only eleven or two, and the largest was almost seventy, they still became Jianwen's most loyal army. .It has to be said that Jianwen was really caught off guard this time. He had never thought before that the army of the imperial court in the capital would attack by sea, and that they were in power personally. After all, the two sides had always been evenly matched at sea.

This is different from land.

The resources controlled by the mainland rulers are overwhelming to him.

But on the sea, backed by Nanyang trade, especially in western Guangxi and Guangxi, the ironwood production area in Annan, the resources he controlled were the strongest.

But now all the elites he can muster are fighting in the north. In addition to the navy and fortress defenders, the only ones left in Guangdong are his bodyguards, a total of only 3000 elites.

It is indeed elite.

Because they have even replaced flintlock muskets.

But really considering the situation, it's not too critical for Jianwen.

After all, as long as it can be blocked at sea, He Di and Zheng He are still [-]-[-] apart at sea. He controls four ironwood battleships. Although Zheng He has six battleships, four of them were built when Zhu Yuanzhang was still alive. In order to save costs , In addition, it was originally intended for cruising in the north. There were no real enemies in the north, so it was built with miscellaneous wood.The remaining two ships are really powerful, because they are made of cypress wood, not from a certain island, but a large amount of cypress wood obtained in the Japanese country, and then added with green hills, elm wood and the like, and are only half a pound of iron wood. Wood is actually an excellent battleship material, but by the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was not much left.

Historically, the number began to decline sharply in the [-]th century, and the gentry in Guangdong and Guangxi used them to build houses and make furniture.

Rongxian Zhenwu Pavilion is built of pure iron wood and has remained intact until modern times in Guangdong and Guangxi, which often face typhoons and have abundant rainfall.

As for the number of other cruiser class battleships on both sides, they are almost the same.

Zheng He's sailors plus Qi Bin's were more than He Di's, but not much more. Moreover, Zheng He's sailors were indeed elite, and even sailed to America in large numbers. However, Qi Bin's sailors were much inferior. In the north, especially in Japan, when the emperor was the emperor, the whale ship sailors in his hands were better than the sailors, but the armed whale ships followed him to protect and govern.

Not in Zheng He's fleet.

In short, He Di and Zheng He are still half the same.

Although the latter won the last time, it was because He Di didn't want to fight hard.

But now He Di can only do his best.

And even if He Diwan is defeated, there will still be coastal fortresses dominated by Humen in the end. These fortresses are no worse than Sanshan Fort and Moling Pass. Since the latter can block the imperial camp, these of course can also block the Beijing camp. The imperial camp still has color. There are probably no warriors in the Beijing camp who can charge cannons with nothing on their backs.

Besides, there are only [-] Beijing camps. It is still a bit naive to attack Guangzhou with this strength.

It's not a big deal.

The advantage is mine!

Therefore, he did not withdraw the imperial camp that attacked the capital, but instead asked the latter to step up the attack. Anyway, if it can be defended, there is no need to withdraw. If it cannot be defended, there is no point in withdrawing. Could it be that if Guangzhou cannot be defended, Jianwen can go elsewhere In this place, even if he wants to continue to escape and pursue his dream of being an emperor, those gentry are not interested in accompanying him anymore. When will this stop?

Moreover, heading north is straight down the river, moving forward like a broken bamboo.

But retreat is a countercurrent. It is estimated that the evacuation from Beijing to Guangzhou will take three months...

And as long as it goes smoothly, there are no accidents along the way, no sabotage by unruly people, no defections, etc. In short, it must be an ideal state. If it is not an ideal state, it will be far away.

There is absolutely no need for this.

On the contrary, if the capital can be captured during this period, the situation will be reversed immediately.

In short, there is no need to return to defense, just continue to strengthen the attack and let those lustful soldiers continue to charge. Anyway, if you don't charge now, you will have no chance in the future.

Fight for their right to exist!

At this time, the ruling fleet escorted by Yang Feng had already sailed away from Keelung under the flag of going south. However, after sailing westward out of sight of the people on the shore, the fleet immediately turned around, and then took advantage of the night to head east and south off the coast of Keelung. Start heading south along the coast.There are currently no people in this area, but the Ming army has several marked freshwater supply points on the coast, which are roughly Hualien, Taitung and other river mouths. As for the natives, of course there are many, but they are living a very primitive life now. life.

At least there is no possibility of leaks.

Nearly two hundred ketch clippers, gunboats, and whalers sailed south at an average speed of five knots, covering a total of more than 400 kilometers. The fleet at this speed only lasted two days, and did not need to stop for supplies in the middle. Quickly they reach Qixingyan.

But there was no direct turn to the west.

Tainan is the stronghold of Guangdong whaling merchants. They have a large number of whaling ships in this area, and their whaling ships are definitely faster than a fleet full of soldiers. Once they encounter a Guangdong whaling ship, the latter is likely to take the lead. The fleet arrived at Humen in front, and then reported to Jianwen, so the fleet continued south, and then avoided the whaling ground and went straight to Humen.

Five days later.At Tai Xi Shan, the sentinel boat No. C under the jurisdiction of Tuen Mun Garrison Station is on patrol.

At present, there is a garrison at each of the three gates of the Pearl River Estuary: Humen garrison, Tuen Mun garrison and Macau garrison.

Of course, the latter was based in the Oyster Mirror, which was called Macao among the people. The Pearl River Estuary at this time was very different from modern times. Not only the south of Macao, but also all the way to the south of Yamen, were all shallow seas and even tidal flat waterways. , and the sea is all the way from Humen to the west to Xiangshan, and the sea is outside Xiangshan County.

So the most important thing in this area is the Oyster Mirror or Macau as it is called by the people.

Because it was the main replenishment point into the modern Modaomen Waterway, which at that time was a complex of numerous shallow tidal flats.

It is also a natural paradise for smuggling trade.

The He family holds the exclusive rights to maritime trade, de facto monopolizing the official trade to Nanyang. However, since they are monopolizing, they can only force the gentry in other systems to find other ways. Of course, the Chaoshan maritime merchants, the second largest force in Guangdong, also have the right to Guangzhou transports goods from overseas to Chaoshan.This is definitely not overseas trade, but domestic or even intra-provincial trade in the Ming Dynasty. It just takes the sea route. Similarly, Annan to Guangzhou is definitely domestic trade and not overseas trade.Of course, in fact, the navy will act as pirates and sink such merchant ships at sea, but going north from Annan by land, or taking the coastal route from Annan to Hepu, cannot be stopped by the navy, and the goods that arrive in Hepu will become Take the inland trade of Xijiang.

These commodities then traveled through the intricate water network of the Xijiang River and appeared in Macau, becoming the main commodities shipped to the north by Chaoshan merchants.

Similarly, northern goods transported by Chaoshan sea trade to Macao will also become inland trade.

Of course, there are also a lot of Zhangquan maritime merchants among Chaoshan maritime merchants.

The latter is the main partner of Chaoshan maritime merchants.

As for Tuen Mun, there isn't much smuggling. After all, the He family's hometown is Dongguan. They don't need to smuggle, but they mainly focus on investigating smuggling.

and so……

"Hundred households, I didn't make much today. I just collected two ships."

On the C-type paddle boat, an officer looked at a merchant ship heading north, and he was holding a wad of banknotes in his hand.

This was given to them by the merchant ship just now.

The main task of the Tuen Mun garrison is to inspect smuggling ships. In theory, all merchant ships passing through the Pearl River Estuary need to be intercepted and boarded for inspection to see if the goods carried have any company's shipping documents. If not, it is smuggling.According to the franchise authorization given to the He family by Jianwen, as long as the goods within the scope of the franchise are transported by sea-going ships in the Ming Dynasty, the shipment orders must be issued by the He family's firm, because only the He family's firm has the right to transport spices from Nanyang. Waiting for specialized supplies to be sold in Daming.

Likewise, the specialty products that Daming sells overseas also require Hejia's shipping orders.

Of course, Daming's sales to land and inland rivers do not need this. After all, this is retail rather than wholesale.

In other words, the He family cannot control the inland areas.

This is what the Tuen Mun garrison does, but in fact, even if it is found out, it will only be to extort a sum of money. After all, the He family is sitting on the golden mountain, and the brothers have to make some extra money.

As for the Macau garrison, that one is from Chaozhou Wei. It goes without saying whether he can investigate smuggling.

This is what the Chaoshan Group within the imperial court strives for. After all, officials cannot only be made by people from the Guangfu Group. Both Chaoshan and Hakka people must have a share.

"This person is so panicked that it's hard to do business. I don't know if my seventh uncle has repelled the bandit army."

Baihu sat on his seat and sighed as he looked at the blue sea in front of him.

Behind him, this centipede ship with only one sail but dozens of long oars stretched out was sailing slowly on the sea with the mechanical movements of more than 100 Japanese slaves in the bottom cabin, and the mast above his head , the observer is holding a monocular to look for the next target.

"The Marquis of Qingyuan is so powerful that it is easy to deal with an eunuch. The last time was just a storm, otherwise the troops would have arrived in the capital by now."

The officer said with a smile.

The last explanation given by the Jianwen court for He Di's defeat was that it encountered a typhoon.

"It's true!"

Baihu said.

It was obvious that he still had full confidence in his seventh uncle.

Of course, it was actually his seventh cousin's uncle, and his seventh cousin's uncle might not even know that he existed.

How can a chicken and a dog ascend to heaven alone?

The He family can now be said to be in a prosperous state, and even relatives who are beyond their reach are getting promoted and making a fortune.

"Hundred households, there is a boat passing the pole."

shouted the observer on the mast.

Hundreds of households were refreshed. Most of the people who came over from the pole were smugglers, carrying northern goods to Macau. Such people would make a fortune after catching a boatload...

"quick!"

he shouted.

"Quick, work harder."

The shout of the officer in the bottom chamber sounded.

Also sounded at the same time was the sound of whips.

Then the originally slow drumbeat suddenly sped up, and the dozens of long oars accompanying the drumbeat also began to speed up. The centipede ship immediately entered full sailing mode, chopping the waves on the sea, like a machine that mercilessly burned Japanese slaves.

then……

"Drop, drop, turn around!"

The panicked shouts of observers suddenly arose amidst the beating of drums.

At this time, Baihu was completely stunned. He stood on his bow gun fort and stared dumbfounded at the sea behind Dangan Island...

There is an endless stream of two-masted clippers.

Truly boundless.

Clipper boats with white stern sails were flying, and seagulls were gliding on the sea. At least according to his field of vision, there was no end in sight.

"Turn around and go to Humen!"

When he finally woke up, he howled like crazy.