Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 589 Meeting in a narrow road

Fan Ning finished reading the handbook, and then asked Xuanzhi official: "The official said, where are some special firearms sent to me?"

"It's on the pier, guarded by soldiers, Mr. Fan can check it at any time."

Fan Ning immediately followed the Xuanzhi officials to the pier. Sure enough, on the pier, he saw two cargo ships guarded by fifty soldiers. The Xuanzhi officials handed over the cargo ships to Fan Ning, and he left Yangzhou with the soldiers.

A cargo ship was filled with high-strength kerosene. This is kerosene refined by the Song Army. A lot of viscous impurities have been removed, and it is used on the fierce oil fire cabinet. The burning effect is excellent.

The other cargo ship was filled with large wooden boxes.

"Damn it, this wooden box weighs at least fifty or sixty catties."

Zhu Long struggled to lift a large wooden box out of the cargo hold, "Master, what could this be?"

Although the emperor's handbook didn't say it clearly, Fan Ning could guess what it was?
"If I'm not wrong, this is our secret weapon to defeat Srivijaya."

"Could it be an iron cannon?"

"should be!"

Fanning used a crowbar to pry open a wooden board, and a black lacquered iron cannon appeared in front of them, shaped like a big pumpkin.

"To count how many?"

Zhu Long and Zhu Hu jumped into the cabin, came out in a moment and said: "Report to the envoy, there are fifty boxes in total!"

Fan Ning turned to a general and said, "Let the soldiers carry all the boxes onto the main ship of Gan Jiang!"

"Follow the order!"

That night, 800 sailors boarded ten steam engine sea ships and headed northward. The Wanshifu ship can usually carry about [-] soldiers, but the steam engine ship did not have oarsmen, which greatly increased the number of people carried, and the number of soldiers transported could be reduced. Up to about [-] people.

It is not surprising that ten steamships transported 6000 people.

In addition to carrying soldiers, ten steamships piled up a large amount of coke in the cargo hold, enough to ensure that the fleet made two round trips from Yangzhou to Kunzhou.

But the fleet soldiers did not go to Kunzhou. The [-] troops stationed in Quanzhou have already rushed to Kunzhou to support them in Fuchuan. Fan Ning’s task is to find the wharf or shipbuilding factory in Liao Kingdom and destroy them completely, so as to destroy the shipbuilding ability of Liao Kingdom .

Fan Ning knew in his heart that it was impossible to destroy the shipbuilding capabilities of the Liao Kingdom. Unless all the shipbuilders were killed, they would continue to build large ships, but delaying the birth of their navy was a feasible strategy.

In the dark night, the fleet sailed in line on the sea, and the lanterns flashed to remind the ships behind. Fanning stepped out of the cabin and silently watched the undulating waves on the sea.

Last year, he reminded Zhao Xu that the Liao Kingdom may openly build plank roads and cross Chencang secretly. It seems that they are attacking Hebei, but in fact they are secretly developing a naval force and plundering the overseas resources of Song Dynasty, especially Kunzhou. and Japanese silver.

But Zhao Xu obviously didn't take his reminder to heart. He didn't realize the seriousness of the problem until now when the Liao Dynasty was sent to Japan.

From the letter Zhao Xu gave himself, he could feel the anxiety in his heart. He refused to let him go to Beijing, and directly let him lead the navy to the north.

However, Fan Ning also thought of another possibility. Perhaps the Liao Kingdom has not yet thought of attacking Kunzhou, and it may send envoys to establish official trade relations with Japan like the Song Dynasty.

The Liao Kingdom is very likely to sell a large number of soldiers and horses to Japan in exchange for Japanese silver. There is almost no doubt about this. This is the only thing that the Liao Kingdom can afford, and it is also what Japan needs most. In the future, it will unite with Japan Attack Kunzhou and Akita City, tie Japan to it, and become the second Xixia.

Fan Ning smiled lightly. If this is the case, it would be interesting. The Liao Kingdom used its weakest side to deal with the Song Dynasty. What did it think of the powerful navy of the Song Dynasty?

I don't know how much wealth the Liao State has invested in shipbuilding. After destroying all the shipyards and fleets of the Liao State, whether it can continue to build ships.

At dawn, the fleet of the Song Army arrived in Laizhou, and there was also a navy of the Song Dynasty in Laizhou, with about 4000 people and hundreds of large and small ships.

Fan Ning then took over the Laizhou Navy.

The commander of the navy in Laizhou is Miao Shunli, a middle-aged man in his forties. He was born as a fisherman in Laizhou. He went fishing with his father since he was a child, and he already knows the situation in Bohai Sea well.

In the big tent, Fan Ning laid out a large map, which was also brought by the Xuanzhi official Zhao Xu and was collected by the imperial court. It shows the distribution of shipbuilding in the Liaodong area from the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties.

This map is very practical, and shipbuilding must have been inherited. The Liao Kingdom was able to build a large ship of more than [-] stone in ten years, and it must have inherited the shipbuilding experience of the previous dynasty.

Fan Ning pointed to the map and said: "After the mid-Tang Dynasty, there were three main points of shipbuilding in Liaodong, one was the Ruhekou where Lulong was located, which was the largest official shipbuilding workshop, and the second was near the Liaokou River. All the shipbuilding sites have been abandoned for more than 200 years. When the Liao Kingdom occupied Yanjing, there was no shipbuilding in the Yanjing area for at least 70 years. In order to prevent the Han people from escaping from the sea and returning to the Song Dynasty, the Liao Kingdom specially prohibited shipbuilding and going out to sea. Until now It’s been almost 170 years, and the Han people in the Yanjing area may still have the ability to smelt, but they definitely don’t have craftsmen in this area when it comes to shipbuilding.”

Miao Shunli said, "Although the big ships have never been seen, the small fishing boats in the Yanjing area still appear occasionally these years. I think we can go and rob a few Yanjing fishing boats and bring them back. They should know the situation of the Liao Kingdom's shipbuilding in the Bohai Sea. .”

"This plan is fine!" Fan Ning agreed with this plan, only the locals knew best if there was a big ship.

Han Wang asked again: "Master just now said that there are three shipbuilding sites, where is the third one?"

"It's in the former Bohai country!"

Fan Ning pointed to the east coast of the Jinghai Sea, "Balhae's shipbuilding industry was also very strong back then. There were fleets of ships sent to Japan and Silla. After Bohae was destroyed by Khitan, I don't know if the shipbuilding industry was destroyed. , but there must be materials and craftsman inheritance in this regard, I think that if the Liao Kingdom can have a shipbuilding industry, the Bohai Kingdom has the greatest possibility."

"Then what should we do?"

Fan Ning pondered for a while and said, "Don't startle the snake, use the fishing boat to go to the two places to investigate the situation, get the information and then attack."

Fan Ning stood still for the time being, and dozens of small boats pretended to be fishing boats and headed towards the coast of the Bohai Sea and the Bohai State.

Three days later, Miao Shunli sent news that three fishing boats from Yanjing had been captured. After interrogation, the Liao Kingdom was still very wary of the Han people in Yanjing, and indeed there was no place for shipbuilding.

Fan Ning is basically certain that the shipbuilding base of the Liao State must be in the original Bohai State, which is the later Vladivostok.

The fleet set off again and headed south. They had to bypass the Koryo Peninsula and enter the Whale Sea. At this time, the westerly and northerly winds were prevailing, and the Laizhou navy could not go to Bohai. They could only use ten steamships led by Fan Ning. Unaffected by wind and waves, go to Bohai State.

Two days later, the fleet led by Fan Ning arrived at the sea about [-] miles away from the original hometown of Bohai State.

Fan Ning's goal is very clear. He knows where the shipbuilding factory in Bohai State is?
It is the famous seaport of Vladivostok in later generations.

It was November in the Gregorian calendar at this time, and the sea was windy and rough, but the big ship of the Song Army was very stable. This was also the auxiliary role played by the paddle wheel, which could stabilize the big ship in wind and waves.

In the morning, Fan Ning was checking the terrain in the cabin, when a rapid bell sounded from the deck, Fan Ning was taken aback and hurried out.

"What happened?"

A soldier knelt down on one knee and reported: "I want to report to my lord, there is a fleet of ships in the sea ahead!"

Fan Ning quickly stepped onto the bow of the boat and looked ahead, only to see a group of black dots appearing in the east and slightly north direction tens of miles ahead. Although he didn't have binoculars, Fan Ning knew it was a fleet.

The possibility of the merchant fleet is unlikely. At this time, the merchant fleet will stop sailing. It will be the Japanese fleet until next spring?possible.

But Fan Ning knew in his heart that it was more likely to be the fleet of the Liao Kingdom.

"Send the order to enter the combat readiness, we may catch a big fish today!"

(End of this chapter)