Lu Ming

Mawei Island is located on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Minjiang River, in the east of Fuzhou, later called Mawei District, which is the only place to enter Fuzhou by sea, and the famous Mawei naval battle took place here in later generations.

Surrounded by mountains and dangerous terrain, it has been the water gateway of Fuzhou since ancient times.Wulong River, Bailong River and Qinjiang River meet here, and then flow into the East China Sea via Min'an Town and Nagato.

In the Ming Dynasty, Mawei Island had an inspection department and a fort.Today, Xue Haiyuan's destination is the newly built Mawei Water Camp on Mawei Island.

There were 5 major water camps in Fujian before.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhou Dexing, the Marquis of Jiang Xia, managed Fujian Haiphong.This person not only built a land defense line with guards and patrols as the backbone along the coastline, but also established a sea defense line with water villages as the core.

The five water villages are: Tongshan Water Village, Fenghuomen Water Village, Xiaocheng Water Village, Nanri Water Village, and Wuyu Water Village.

So history has changed here: the Mawei Water Village, which had never appeared near Fuzhou, started to be built quickly after the order of the governor not long ago.So when Xue Haiyuan and the others came to Mawei Island in the lucky boat, the water village had already become a scale.

A billowing black smoke is rising from the shore, and wooden stakes erected on the water have surrounded a large area of ​​water.And a large number of corvée conscripts from nearby counties are building several piers at the same time on the shore.

Seeing the blessing boat approaching, a sentry boat came to meet him soon.Perhaps it was because the village had received the news a long time ago, Xue Haiyuan and the others entered inside without any trouble.

The architecture of the water village is full of the styles of the time travellers.On the shore, there are not only boiler rooms made of red bricks emitting black smoke, but also large dormitories with wooden and stone structures.

Du Dewei soon met the most important target of his trip: the counterfeit Cao Chuan and Zhang Dongdong in a big square red brick house that hadn't even been painted with white lime.

Chapter 234

After Du Dewei came to this big red brick house on the shore, he knew that this place was the key point such as "White Tiger Hall" and "Chinese Army Tent", so he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

The entire lobby was divided into two parts.Half of them have long tables and maps on the wall, obviously used for military meetings.And the other half is what Du Dewei saw before his eyes: the traditional pattern of receiving guests in the Ming Dynasty, except for the guards with shaved hair and muskets, everything else was normal.

After a quick glance, someone lowered his head and followed behind Xue Haiyuan, and went up to meet the military officer on the chief seat—now he already knew that this was the new boss who would rule his future destiny.

So Du Dewei knelt down without hesitation and began to kowtow: the way of the gangster brothers in the pirate's den will not work in the officialdom.

The military officer is a fifth-rank officer, because he is wearing a blue official robe, and the patch on his chest is Xiong Wei: it is Zhang Dongdong of Cao Chuan in the Shanzhai.

"Grassman Du Dewei kowtows to the General."

"No need to be polite, please get up."

After thanking him for the seat, Zhang Dongdong introduced Sha Zhengming, President Qian who was sitting beside him, to someone.

At this point, there's no point in hiding it.So in the next conversation, Du Dewei heard such a story: It was confirmed not long ago that after Zheng Zhilong's death, the spare tires/big gangsters who had been secretly dealing with Lao Xiong, finally became a regular this time, and reached a secret with Lao Xiong Agreement, accepted the recruitment, and took over the Mawei water village built by Old Xiong to suppress the bandits by the way...

If Du Dewei was familiar with the situation in the officialdom, he would have discovered the loophole in this rhetoric: the time was not right.You must know that it has only been a few days since Zheng Zhilong confirmed the news of the accident. With the government's style, it is absolutely impossible to complete the entire process of follow-up recruitment in such a short period of time.

Besides, what the hell is secret solicitation?Shouldn't Ming Fa Mansion report to know the world?Could it be that this military camp in the suburbs of Fuzhou is a black household?

However, Du Dewei was not clear about all this.He was just a 17th-century pirate chief who aspired to be a civil servant, not a reporter who wanted to investigate the government's shady affairs.

In other words, it doesn't matter even if he knows all the inside stories: Zheng Zhilong used to chase and kill his old boss Xu Xinsu everywhere, but now he is dead and all lights are out, which is a good thing.

The only thing Lao Du has to do now is to show his loyalty in front of the new boss, and discuss the future arrangements of his subordinates, instead of pursuing the mystery of Zheng Zhilong's death.

……

Seeing that the two recommended parties were on the right track, Xue Haiyuan got up and left: there is still one waiting at the firm, and he is very busy today.

Just before Xue Haiyuan went out today, a pirate leader with a square head, big ears, and a simple and honest face also touched the door.Xue Haiyuan, who received the notification from the clerk, hurriedly gave the signal and arranged the guest in the guest room temporarily, and now he has to go back to receive the guest as soon as possible.Oh, by the way, the secret name the visitor received from Xu Xinsu was "Andy Lau".

After Xue Haiyuan left, Du Dewei began to confess his family background in front of the two court officials.

With a big bald head and a huge stature, Sha Zhengming, who actually presides over the daily work of the water village and is also in charge of recruitment matters, nodded after listening to Du Dewei's report: what this person said is the same as the one sent by Yuegang. The content of the telegram is basically consistent.

Next, Sha Zhengming once again put his ugly words in front: This pirate team must be reorganized. If you, Du, still have the idea of ​​"running a private trilogy and watching the situation", then please leave now, we I won't make it difficult for you either.Once these people enter the water village, it will be ruthless military law. Shopkeeper Du, you can answer after you think about it.

What else could Du Dewei say?It's been inserted so deep, if you don't tremble anymore, isn't it impotent?As a result, the two parties finally reached a private black agreement: after Du Dewei, Zhang Dongdong, who was in charge of dealing with the government, would come forward and give him an errand of "foreign commissioner and general manager".

After that, Du Dewei himself will be in charge of commanding some of the reorganized pirates. If he has military achievements in the future, he will be promoted soon.

……

Now that the agreement was reached, Du, who had already made up his mind, didn't stay any longer: he needed to rush back to do ideological work for his subordinates and distribute property, which would take him two or three days.

As for the water village, there are also a lot of preparations to be done.After all, no matter what, the Du Family Gang is a gang of thieves who claim to have 20 boats, and the total number will definitely exceed 1000, so they cannot be taken lightly.

And in the early morning of the second day after Du Dewei left the water village, the second recruitment matter that had been brewing for a long time finally came to light: in the early morning, a notice was posted at the four gates of Fuzhou at the same time.

This notice was written by the master of the governor's yamen, and the content on it is divided into two parts.

The first paragraph is recalling the past: Xiong Da Fujun introduced his sincerity when he recruited Zheng Zhilong before.

The second part is the status quo: Lao Xiong was very disappointed that Zheng Zhilong did not return after the deadline, and then invited the pirates and bandits from three mountains and five mountains again, promising that as long as everyone came to join his old man, he would "don't ask about the past", And he is willing to award officials to come.

For those ordinary people who are desperate for survival, this notice is nothing more than an extra piece of talk about "killing and arson and being recruited for safety".However, laymen watch the excitement, and experts watch the doorway; the notice is a blockbuster to those who are interested... For example, the various spies in Fuzhou city.

As a result, in Fuzhou City that day, many Clippers went to various places.

The appearance of this notice can be said to have officially removed the "ignorant" government side from the Zheng Zhilong incident.In addition, the notice also made a final conclusion on the Zheng Zhilong incident from the side: Whether you are dead or not, I don't need you anymore, let's start from the beat of gongs and drums.

The next thing is simple: it only takes a while, and the "big officials and righteous men" who were "shocked" by Xiong Da's open recruitment can officially come to Fuzhou official wharf, go to the governor's yamen to take refuge in the old man under the eyes of everyone. Xiong, I have received the official seal of the coastal defense guerrilla.

……

The words are divided into two ends.Let's say that after Du Dewei bid farewell to Zhang Dongdong and others, and returned to his own fleet on Dongluo Island by boat, he began to arrange the surrender.

He first summoned a group of his confidants to a boat to unify their thinking, and after that, the confidants went to do other people's work overnight.After the above foreshadowing was done, early the next morning, a recruiting meeting was held on board the ship with the participation of all the big and small bosses.

The purpose of the meeting is to unify thoughts and go to the light.Of course, if someone really doesn't want to eat official food, they can also share some of their belongings and leave.

...There are too many situations where pirates get together and leave on weekdays, so there are almost no cases where they throw a cup and signal to kill people if they disagree.We are all big and small shareholders of the fleet. If someone wants to withdraw their shares, just give some money and leave. Maybe in two days, everyone will get together to do business again.

So Du Dewei's goal today is: retaining most of the people is victory.

Things are going pretty well.In an atmosphere where a group of direct subordinates expressed their determination impassionedly and talked about the future, most of the little people who drifted with the crowd did not raise any objections, not to mention these people already knew the purpose of Du Dewei's coming to Fuzhou.

The only two veteran Jianghu who were unwilling to accept the recruitment also explained their intentions to the head in private afterwards.

This situation is very easy to operate: Du Dewei immediately took out some of the belongings stored on the ship and sent them away, and everyone got together and dispersed - these two people will bring their money and followers, and drive their own ship tomorrow morning , parted ways with the main force.

Early the next morning, an hour after dispatching the letter ship, the Du family's fleet of 18 ships officially set sail from Dongluo Island and headed for Fuzhou.And the crossing people who had already been prepared sent a lucky boat equipped with propellers to meet the target after the target entered the mouth of the Minjiang River.

When the pirates saw the strange ship that was able to move around the fleet freely after the sails were lowered, there was a sudden commotion.Of course, because the heavy machine guns on board were not used, the pirates still didn't know how powerful they were, so when 18 ships of various colors entered the Mawei Water Village, the pirates made a fuss.

In the perception of most pirates, there should be no difference between recruiting security and joining a gang, except for wearing a helmet and taking silver... So when everyone saw a large number of hairy soldiers with strange guns on the shore, they were a little nervous at first.

Next is fried hair.There is no plot where the whole gang stands at the bow of the boat and worships the new boss, and then the boss rewards the new boss with wine, meat, and silver: a large number of soldiers have already lined up a human wall on the pier, and a loud voice is coming from nowhere. Sternly ordered everyone to line up to disembark.

So fried hair is a must.

A few short-tempered little bosses drew their knives on the spot, and shouted to order the boats to turn around: I will not serve you anymore.

However, before the words fell, the instigators standing at the bow were shot into a hornet's nest by the soldiers on the shore, and several people around them were also killed.

Now it's all honest.

So the "surrender" ceremony officially started: the pirates first walked through the bayonet wall, and the weapons on their bodies were ordered to remain aside.The next step is identity registration: a row of book offices sitting behind a long table are already waiting there.

After sending out a few more heads, the rebellious pirates quickly learned to line up under the education of bayonets and gun stocks.As the ships approached the pier one after another, the guests formed a long line soon after.

After the simple registration, it is a necessary bathing item for time travel.

After taking a shower, receiving a new livery, and registering their personal belongings, the "recruits" were herded into dormitories with brand new straw mats.

The next step is screening.

A total of 1100 pirate recruits will be screened and filtered layer by layer in the next few days.In the end, only half of the total number of people can stay in the ponytail barracks: middle-aged and elderly pirates and outstanding soldier seedlings will be picked out and sent to the generals.

The rest of them will learn the rules and skills in the barracks while waiting for newcomers—more pirates will come here in the future, and there will also be sailors sent by the senior officials to mix with them.

Chapter 235

After the pirates were detained in the camp for three days, all those who were not part of the "instant force" were singled out.

The selection process is very simple, first of all, visual inspection: all middle-aged and elderly gangsters with gray hair and wrinkles on their faces that can kill flies will be pulled out first.The rest began to interview one by one.Those who could tell their age clearly, including those who slipped through the net and showed their age through their teeth, were all picked out.

These old men and the middle-aged and middle-aged men who passed the interview were finally returned to their personal belongings. In addition, after each received 10 taels of money from Du Dewei, they were loaded onto the ship and packed up for the officers.

… Du Dewei stood on the boat he used to be, and watched all these old brothers being escorted into a brand new lucky boat, he couldn't help but heaved a long sigh.

"Why, can't bear it?" Sha Zhengming, who was like a giant, was originally here to inspect the pirate ships, but when he saw the novice lamenting there, he sneered.

"Subordinates dare not." After Du Dewei observed the situation for a few days, he was no longer in the dark about the situation.He now has a fairly deep understanding of the so-called Dayuan Gang: boilers, propellers, heavy machine guns, [-] big covers...

These "Shangguan" officers who took refuge in Xiongfu's army one step earlier, not only have a lot of incredible weapons, but also this group of people is rich and powerful, and their subordinates are all elite. They are not ordinary officers and soldiers who are short of money, so Du Dewei Hou Que's Zhima officials are becoming more and more respectful now - he has already faintly felt that his new bosses are powerful and they are people who want to do some big things.

"Hehe, I'm afraid you don't know the benefits of going to Dayuan." When Sha Zhengming said this, he pointed to the two confidants behind Du Dewei: "These two will go with the boat, it's a public expense. Wait a while When the days come back, I will preach to everyone again, so that the new brothers can know what kind of fairyland the Dayuan is.”

So Du Dewei had no choice but to send two of his men on board to travel at public expense.But to be honest, he himself is also full of curiosity about the senior officials now, so even though his face is not good-looking, Du is still obedient.

……

After sending away the elderly, apprentices and a small number of skilled pirates, the total number of Du Dewei's gang of more than 1100 plummeted to 700.

Everyday life in the barracks is very painful, especially at this stage of new recruits: bathing on time, eating on time, reciting military laws, listening to instructors' lectures... In short, these are the most difficult indoor courses for pirates who are used to laxity. A goose step is impossible.So in the barracks these days, the screams of military judges beating people with whips and sticks can be heard everywhere.

In fact, after really getting through this stage, they will soon discover the benefits of the ponytail barracks.

The three meals here are good, and the portions are generous.Each person/three taels of silver sang on time every month, and the environment was clean and hygienic. All injuries, parasites, and skin diseases on everyone's bodies were cured by the doctor with magical sutures and some pills.

In addition, although the instructors beat and swear at people, they never insult people, and they don't engage in corporal punishment like sticking arrows into the camp that the medieval army used to do.Even beating and scolding is just a matter of fact-at most, a few sticks on the buttocks, a confinement, on the contrary, they still care a lot about the newcomers in life.

Pirates are also human beings, and most of them are from poor people who can't survive.So after staying in the military camp for a few days, many people can still feel the kindness here, combined with their daily feelings and the lectures given by the instructors.

Of course, no matter what their mentality is, the stage of "boiling the eagle" must be passed.These people are different from the mud-legged recruits of the senior officials. These people do not lack combat ability, but what they lack is discipline, confidence and the mentality of respecting the rules.

……

After all the people brought by Du Dewei were imprisoned in the barracks, the next step was to empty the ship. In addition to some rice salt, there were also some stolen goods and silver taels on the 18 pirate ships.

All the stolen goods were shipped to Haidong Commercial Bank after registration, and then Du Dewei got a sum of money paid to him according to the price of the stolen goods.

This sum of money, together with the properties he had accumulated over the years, became the old employees' breakup expenses.Of course, after dismissing the employees, Du Dewei still had a lot left in his hands, but he didn't expect these properties to stay in his own hands: don't you want to gain a foothold in the officialdom if you don't give all your savings to Shangguan's defected officials?Isn't that the fighter among fools?

Du Dewei has this awareness.

However, when he went to Shangguan with the money, he was laughed at on the spot.Sha Zhengming sneered with an extremely bad attitude here, Zhang Dongdong's attitude was a little better, but he still laughed at him.

Fortunately, after Zhang Dongdong finished his joke, he pointed out a clear path to Du Dewei: invest in buying a house.So Du Dewei saw several exquisite pictures on the iPad.

The pictures on the iPad are day and night views of Chikan Avenue.Zhang Dongdong told the first pirate leader who came to surrender: You are lucky, the policy is open to you.So you hurry up and use your little savings to buy two shops on Chikan Avenue, and then take over your mother and younger siblings. From now on, being a landlord will be enough for you to lie down for the rest of your life.I know Nanjing Road...wrong, how much will a shop on Chikan Avenue be worth in the future?

The dizzy Du Dewei carried the silver back to his private room.

Shopkeeper Du, whose philosophy of life has been completely subverted, finally decided to find an opportunity to visit Dayuan, which is the fundamental reason why he sent his confidant to visit Dayuan today.

Although he couldn't understand what the new bosses were thinking, he knew that they didn't have any malicious intentions.After all, he, who has been annexed by others, now has nothing but the money, so what else can others covet him for?

……

"Brothers, it's really difficult for you to drive around in this kind of boat." Sha Zhengming sighed sincerely to Du Dewei after inspecting the 18 pirate ships.

There are only 18 Chinese ships, and there are six or seven models.Dafu boat, Erfu boat, bird boat, Guangzhou boat, sentry boat, fishing boat...

The condition of all the boats cannot be said to be good, and the few smallest fishing boats can be described as dilapidated.When Sha Zhengming boarded the main ships, the mess and dirt on them were truly amazing: the boats were randomly thrown on the deck and mixed with the cables under his feet, forming a natural tripping rope.

The rough private cast iron cannon was tied to the bow of the ship with hemp rope and dunnage, and the gunpowder barrel was placed aside in the open air, as if ready to detonate the gravel and iron pieces in the broken basket at any time.

As for the dark, damp, foul-smelling and musty-smelling cabins on the pirate ship, Sha Zhengming didn't even have the desire to go down and take a look: the rats and cockroaches that roamed the decks in broad daylight had already exhausted his appetite.

"Hurry up and drive away, clean up and come back."... Sha Zhengming, who seemed brave and ruthless, finally lost to these pirate ships in embarrassment.Ever since, under the latest order, Comrade Du Dewei, the general manager of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the New Science and Technology Committee, drove his own boat to the shipyard outside Fuzhou City.

He didn't know until he got outside the gate of the well building that the big bluestone wharf that he saw the other day was also owned by the Time Travel Group.And next to the pier, there is a shipyard purchased by passing through the public with money.

The shipyard was formed by merging three small shipyards along the river, next to the government-run Minjiang Shipyard.The original private bosses and boatmen have now become the foremen and employees of the Transit Group.These Fuzhou local shipbuilders are currently building the latest transport ships of Chuanzhong under the command of a group of backbones transferred from Taijiang Shipyard.

Du Dewei was received by a group of cross-travelers who were not tall and wore wigs.

This person is Zhao Ning, one of the chief engineers of the Taijiang Shipyard, and is now transferred to Fuzhou to preside over the work of the shipyard.

After commanding Du Dewei to dock the largest and best blessing ship in the pirate fleet at the pier, Zhao Ning first boarded the ship for inspection, then shook his head and said to a foreman beside him: "It's worthless, after salting and loading."

……

The "no value" mentioned by Zhao Ning here does not mean that this 700 material Dafu boat has no use value, but that it has no combat value.

In the planning of the traversing forces, in the future, in addition to the streamlined main battleships with soft sails, as the main armed transport ships of this force in the turbulent coastal areas of the mainland, they should be built with the same standard, similar to the "old warships" in the late Qing Dynasty. "lock boat" passenger and cargo ship.

The "old lock boat" actually appeared as early as the 16th century after the Portuguese came to East Asia.

After the Portuguese at that time adapted to the turbulent wind environment here, they quickly combined the Chinese-style hard sails with the thin western ship models, and invented this new hybrid ship model.

This type of ship was not noticed at first, and then it was carried forward one after another in the Qing Dynasty. Later, the "red single boat" of similar blood was derived in the south.The Chinese used these ships extensively for coastal trade.Due to its superior seaworthiness, this ship type has eliminated the traditional square and blessing ships and has become the main transport ship.

Until the end of the Qing Dynasty, this type of mixed-breed ship had dominated the world. The main force of the Qing government and the Taiping Army's successive battles was this type of ship. In addition, the "Yaro" that triggered the Two Crows War was an old lock ship.