Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 299 There is a Traitor
A few days later, led by the Huiyou Company's communication ship, a fleet flying the flag of the Guangdong Navy slowly sailed into Yandun Bay.

The fleet had more than 30 ships, most of which were small boats with sails and oars. Only two Guang ships and one Fu ship could sail far out to sea. The flagship of the fleet was a three-masted Guang ship with a proud head and a huge belly. A big "He" character fluttered on its flag.

This was naturally the flagship of He Rubin, the general of Guangdong. When he heard that they were about to enter the port, he walked out of the official hall and looked with interest at the Huiyou Company fleet anchored in Yandun Bay.

He Rubin's eyes were first attracted by the majestic and spacious Dingyuan. He had been working in Guangdong for two years and it was not the first time he had seen a Western-style sailing ship, but he had never heard of one with two rows of gun ports on the side.

He carefully counted the number of gun ports on the port side of Dingyuan, a total of 20, which means that including the bow and stern, the ship can carry at least 40 large red cannons.

As early as when he was serving as the lieutenant general of Zhoushan in Zhejiang, He Rubin accidentally got a military book called "Illustrated Explanation of Western Fire Attacks", which introduced the large long-barreled Western artillery. At that time, he also specifically asked Lin Hai to verify whether such a magical weapon really existed.
Not long after, the Battle of Ningyuan broke out, and the reputation of the Red Cannon spread throughout the Ming Dynasty. He Rubin also heard that this batch of Red Cannon was purchased by the court from Haojing.

At this time, He Rubin had been promoted to the general of Guangdong. He sent someone to Haojing to inquire about it. The price of the red cannon was 1,000 taels of silver per cannon...

If calculated in this way, the cannons on the Dingyuan alone are worth more than 40,000 taels of silver, which is enough to pay for the annual customs tax of Macau!

He Rubin had no idea that Emperor Tianqi was being treated as a fat sheep by the Portuguese in Macau. Of course, he might also have been cheated by his own officials, or both.

In fact, this batch of cannons were not cast by the Portuguese, but came from the EIC's sunken ship Unicorn. A total of 36 cannons were salvaged at the time, and 22 of them were actually delivered to the capital.

This batch of artillery was roughly 25 times the caliber of 12-pound guns, which were roughly the same shape as the 12-jin naval guns of Huiyou Company. According to the price of cast iron guns in Britain at that time, the cost of a 200-pound Koufulin cannon was about taels. If it was made by Huiyou Company, which had mastered the iron mold casting technology, it would be even less worthwhile.

However, what surprised He Rubin the most was not the Dingyuan, the only cruise ship, but those strange communication ships that refreshed his cognition.

The sails that had never been seen before were only one aspect. What was truly amazing were the cannons on the ship. Such a small boat of 200 tons actually had side guns equipped?
The key point is that the gun is not small. The guns of the reporting ship are all placed on the open deck. He Rubin can see it clearly. If the four-pound cannon of Huiyou Company is placed on the warship of the Ming army, it will also be classified as a bow heavy cannon!
He Rubin knew that a cannon of this caliber could be forged. According to the iron price and labor cost in the Ming Dynasty, this thing was very cheap. Selling a cannon for 20 taels of silver was considered unscrupulous.

The problem is that you put eight heavy cannons on a small boat of 200 tons. This is a bit outrageous. How can the hull withstand the recoil of the cannons?

Just as He Rubin was astonished, a communication ship came over. On the bow deck stood a young general in military uniform. It was Lin Hai, whom he had not seen for two years.

"I am Penghu Guerrilla Lin Hai, paying my respects to Marshal He!" Lin Hai boarded He Rubin's ship, bowed his head and clasped his fists before him, saying, "I am wearing armor, so I cannot fully honor you. I hope the Marshal will forgive me."

In front of He Rubin's subordinates, Lin Hai naturally couldn't address him by his nickname, because he was the general of a province after all. But he called him "General" in a very friendly way, because in the Ming Dynasty, this was often used by direct subordinates to address the general.

He Rubin returned the greeting with a smile: "My nephew Deng Wan, you and I are old friends. You can be more casual and don't have to be bound by military etiquette."

Lin Hai then took advantage of the situation and said: "Mr. Zhongsheng is so kind to me, so I will respectfully obey your command."

He Rubin invited Lin Hai to sit in the official hall, then dismissed the attendants and said, "My dear nephew, don't worry about the matter of the Yazhou Thousand Household. I have already informed Li Dutang, it is a small matter."

The Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi and the Governor of Guangdong at that time was named Li Fengjie. Upon hearing this, Lin Hai hurriedly said, "Mr. Zhongsheng is so kind, and I am deeply grateful for that." He was originally a little worried about He Rubin's situation in Guangdong. After all, there were many censors in the court who attacked him. But if he had the support of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, he would naturally be much more stable.

Li Fengjie was transferred from the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing to the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi last year. He has not been in charge of Guangdong for a long time. Moreover, his station is in Zhaoqing, which is close to Guangxi, and is quite far from Chaozhou, where He Rubin is stationed.

Lin Hai was quite concerned about the personnel affairs in the southeastern coastal provinces, so he was well aware of this. He then asked, "Does Lord Zhongsheng have any old ties with Li Dutang?"

"Li Dutang is from Changshu County, Suzhou Prefecture. We are from the same hometown and have known each other for more than 20 years." He Rubin stroked his beard and smiled. "Last year, my nephew was the first to destroy the ancestral temple of the rebel eunuch. Li Dutang also asked me about you in private and praised you highly."

"Li Dutang is so kind to me, it must be Lord Zhongsheng who spoke well of me." Lin Hai was overjoyed when he heard this. It seemed that the relationship between Li Fengjie and He Rubin was indeed extraordinary. Otherwise, he would not have dared to discuss the matter of destroying the ancestral temple with He Rubin before the death of Emperor Tianqi.

Moreover, his political orientation is obviously the same as He Rubin, that is, he cannot stand the eunuch party. Having this civil and military leader in charge of Guangdong is a great benefit to Huiyou Company.

"No! No! My nephew's article on slaying Wei has been sung all over the world and has long been popular. Why does it need my praise?" He Rubin said, and then changed the subject. "But if my nephew wants to meet Li Dutang, I can introduce him to him."

He Rubin is indeed a shrewd man. Lin Hai sought an official position in Guangdong for Yang Ce, and specified that he must be a thousand households in Yazhou. He must have some interests in the local area. And considering the scale of Lin Hai's business, what he wants to do must not be a small matter.

However, unlike Zhoushan Islands, Yazhou was not without prefectures and counties. There was a prefect in the area, and the superior Qiongzhou Prefecture had a military governor stationed there in addition to the prefect. Therefore, if there was no higher-level civil servant to back him up, He Rubin, a general, would not be able to cover the whole situation.

Lin Hai understood the meaning of the music and quickly thanked him, "In that case, thank you very much, Lord Zhongsheng!"

"Okay, okay. After the battle with Li Kuiqi, I will personally go to Zhaoqing to report my achievements to Li Dutang, and then I will convey your wishes. After that, you can come to see me at any time..."

After responding to Lin Hai's preconditions for sending troops, He Rubin shifted the topic to the war. He continued, "I wonder what strategy my nephew has for suppressing Li Kuiqi this time?"

Lin Hai had already formulated a detailed battle plan. Hearing this, he said confidently, "Don't worry, Lord Zhongsheng. I have a foolproof plan for this battle..."

Lantau Island, Fanguitang.

At this time, Li Kuiqi was also discussing matters with his trusted leaders, including Ma Xuansheng and Xu Guixiang, his former sworn brothers from Shibi.

Ma and Xu were not Li Kuiqi's confidants, and they were allowed to attend the meeting mainly because they had developed spies in the remnants of Li Zhongguo's army. At the moment, Lin Hai was joining forces with Li Zhongguo.

Ever since gaining a foothold at the mouth of the Pearl River, Li Kuiqi has been most concerned about the movements of Lin Hai's troops. He fears most that he will come to Guangdong to cause trouble for him.

However, after figuring out the hydrology and geography of the Pearl River Estuary, Li Kuiqi now hoped that Lin Hai would come and fight him as soon as possible...

(End of this chapter)