Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 116 Pirates and Treacherous Officials Collude (Part 5)

The township government won't report it; there's nothing we can do!
The local tycoons and gentry in the southeast did not take Xiong Wencan, the Governor-General of Zhejiang, Zhili and Fujian, seriously.

How to do?
Tu Wenfu and Li Chaoqin only had a hundred elite cavalrymen under their command. If they rushed into the village and tried to fight them head-on, they would probably get beaten up.

They had to wait for Xu Guangqi's 50,000 troops to arrive before they could make a move.

Otherwise, if the Donglin Party and the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party were to incite others, the scene of ordinary people besieging the Imperial Guards during the Tianqi era would surely be repeated.

That mess will be hard to clean up later.

The problem is, Xiong Wencan is currently leading his army to recapture Dongfan.

At this point, it wouldn't be appropriate to send an imperial edict to disturb them, and it would be even more impossible to ask them to send troops to Suzhou to take force.

It seems we can only wait until the ship leaves Taiye Pond before making any decisions.

Zhu Jue frowned and pondered for a while, then decisively said, "Zhenghua, send someone with an urgent message to convey my decree, instructing Tu Wenfu and Li Chaoqin to lead their men back to Suzhou Prefecture and wait."

There's no way to convey the imperial decree to Xiong Wencan right now.

He could only wait until the ship could leave Taiye Pond before ordering someone to find Xiong Wencan and Xu Guangqi to convey his instructions in detail.

For the next few days, he stayed at Deshengmen every day to oversee the dredging, just waiting for the waterway to be cleared.

When Tian Hong saw him in such a hurry, he desperately urged the able-bodied men of the Beijing Garrison, the young men of the farmers, and the unemployed men of Cangzhou.

With them keeping a close eye on things and urging them on, the dredging process was naturally very fast. In just a few days, the silt in the waterway was almost completely cleared.

Around 9 a.m. that day, Zhu Jue had just finished processing the memorials and was about to go to Desheng Gate when Tian Hongyu hurried over, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Now that you've come all this way, don't you need to keep an eye on things and urge me to hurry up?
Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Has the waterway been cleared, Father-in-law?"

Tian Hongyu nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty. This morning, Qianfu rowed the boat all the way from Datong Bridge Canal Wharf to Taiye Pond. There are no problems with the 800-ton canal boats on this section. It will take a few more days to build the inner city canal embankment."

Even without building a new river embankment, ships can still sail out.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue decisively said, "Cheng'en, quickly send someone to convey my imperial edict, instructing Yingchao and the others to bring their ships to the Yuhe Bridge dock."

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen immediately ordered someone to convey his imperial edict.

Zhu Jue, on the other hand, headed straight for the Yuhe Bridge.

There is a dock near the palace side of the Jade River Bridge. It was from there that Emperor Tianqi boarded a boat for sightseeing and drowned!

He led Wang Chengen and Fang Zhenghua to the Yuhe Bridge dock, where the ship was already moored and waiting. Hundreds of elite imperial guards stood in neat rows, carrying muskets. A eunuch hurried forward, respectfully bowing and saying, "This servant greets Your Majesty."

This eunuch was named Wang Yingchao. He was about the same age as Wang Chengen and also had the same surname. He and Wang Chengen were in the same batch who entered the palace and trained together. They had a very good relationship and he was a good person. Therefore, the important task of conveying the imperial edict was entrusted to him.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then solemnly said, "The waterway from Taiye Pond to Tonghui River has been dredged. You can take them to Fujian to deliver the imperial decree."

Go and convey my imperial edict to Xiong Wencan, instructing him to immediately rebuild the Penghu Patrol Office after recovering Dongfan, and to patrol the southeast coast with small boats and the southeast sea lanes with large ships, making sure to intercept the cargo ships of Zhejiang merchants and wealthy families transporting tea and raw silk outwards.

After the cargo ship was intercepted, all the goods were confiscated, and the crew members were severely tortured to find out whose goods they were. Once they revealed the truth, Li Chaoqin, Wang Chaofu, and Li Yongzhen were ordered to lead men to raid their homes and execute them.

The wealthy merchants and powerful families of Zhejiang and the nouveau riche and gentry of Southeast China are like those who refuse a toast but want to be forced to drink a forfeit!
He originally intended to pay for the raw silk, but these guys deliberately tried every means to delay it.

Then we'll have no choice but to send people to rob them by force, taking both the people and the boat. Not only will we not pay them, but if we find out whose goods they are, we'll confiscate their property and execute them!

Wang Yingchao carefully took notes, then quickly cupped his hands and said, "This servant has remembered."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then carefully instructed, "Go tell Zixian that after Xiong Wencan recovers Dongfan, he should quickly lead his disciples to cultivate sweet potato and potato seedlings. Xiong Wencan should temporarily take charge of the 50,000 troops and small boats."

After planting the first batch of potatoes and sweet potatoes, he handed over the rest to his disciples and then rushed back to Southern Zhili to prepare to lead his men to verify the production of raw silk and tea.

Wang Yingchao carefully memorized it again before quickly cupping his hands and saying, "This servant has memorized it."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then solemnly said, "Remember, the ship is a top secret. No one except officials of the inner court and their confidants is allowed to board the ship to inspect it. Anyone who dares to disobey and force their way on board will be killed! If you are surrounded and attacked, be prepared to destroy everything. Fight to the last man, then destroy the guns and burn the ship. Do not let anyone else discover the secret."

Is this ship that important?

Upon hearing this, Wang Yingchao nodded repeatedly and said, "This servant will remember."

Zhu Jue thought about it carefully again before waving his hand and saying, "Go, take enough food, fresh water and coal and set off. Go as soon as possible and come back as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yingchao quickly bowed and took his leave.

As Zhu Jue watched the small steamer gradually disappear into the distance, his thoughts drifted to Dongfan. How was the war to reclaim Dongfan going?
At this time, the waters southwest of Dongfan, between Penghu Bay and Dayuan Port, were already filled with sails and ships, and the war for the Ming Dynasty to recover Dongfan was about to begin.

Early in the morning, around dawn, Xiong Wencan led 100,000 troops and more than 1,000 warships of various sizes from Penghu Bay.

Penghu Bay is only about 100 miles from Dayuan Port; even the slowest boat can reach it in two hours.

On the flagship, Xiong Wencan stood at the bow, scanning the slowly approaching Tai Yuen Port with binoculars, feeling a surge of excitement.

The recovery of lost territory and the expansion of new lands are both unparalleled achievements.

Although he couldn't lead the charge, he was still the commander-in-chief of this battle, and he will surely be remembered in history!
At this point, he could also see the terrain around Tai Yuen Harbour clearly. It was a harbor surrounded by an archipelago, and there was more than one entrance and exit.

However, the main entrance, which is roughly in the middle of the front, is the widest and can accommodate many ships at the same time. The other entrances are very narrow, making it inconvenient for a single ship to pass through. Therefore, the Dutch blocked the main entrance and started building fortresses on the island next to it.

Fortunately, the fortress base was not yet completed; otherwise, they would have had to risk going through the narrow Deer Ear Gate to the north.

The number of enemy ships was about what they had estimated. In the middle of the main entrance were more than fifty pirate warships, and behind these fifty-odd pirate warships, more than ten enormous ships could be vaguely seen.

As expected, the enemy's tactic was to block the main entrance to the Taijiang Inner Sea and then bombard it from behind with Dutch cannons.

We can't dodge this first round of shelling, and we don't know how accurate the enemy's cannons are.

As he was pondering this, a sudden burst of command flags waving appeared all around him.

Immediately afterward, a messenger rushed over, bowed, and reported, "Your Excellency, the vanguard and the central army have already formed their battle lines."

Then let's get to work. We must catch the enemy off guard to minimize casualties.

Without further ado, Xiong Wencan shoved the binoculars into the hands of his guards, turned and grabbed the drumsticks, roaring, "Beat the drums! Advance! Kill!"

After roaring, he took the lead in beating the war drums.

"Boom boom boom boom," the powerful sound of war drums rang out.

"Kill!" One hundred thousand men roared in unison, braving the danger of being sunk by artillery fire, and steered their ships straight toward the enemy.

With a series of booming sounds, a barrage of artillery fire erupted, and countless shells rained down. Instantly, columns of water shot into the sky at the entrance to the Taijiang Inner Sea, and a thick mist filled the air, making it impossible to see the battlefield.

Xiong Wencan didn't even look at it; he just focused all his strength on beating the drum.

Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Hongkui, and Zheng Zhibao were completely fearless and simply led their warships to charge forward.

Soon, Liu Xiang's fifty-odd pirate ships were scattered by them.

The Dutch warships were also frightened and hastily turned north, firing wildly as they fled.

Zheng Zhihu led his centipede ships to chase after them, surrounded the enemy's giant ship and fired a barrage of rockets, then threw out grappling hooks and frantically climbed onto the enemy ship.

The Dutch were terrified by their reckless fighting style. The few giant ships that were not surrounded hurriedly fled out of the Luermen Channel, turned and headed straight south, ignoring all the warships, pirate ships, unfinished fortresses and cargo in the Taijiang Inner Sea.

This is what makes Zheng Zhilong's men so terrifying. Whether facing the Dutch or the Spanish, they charge forward recklessly. European colonial bandits are terrified of them.

Historically, they have never been defeated by these maritime overlords!
(End of this chapter)