Ming Zhengzhi, I am Zheng Kezang

"There is a fish in Dark North, its name is Kun, and the size of Kun is unknown for thousands of miles; when it turns into a bird, its name is Peng, and its back is unknown for thousands of miles. A cloud that hangs from the sky."

------ "Zhuangzi's Happy Journey"

Huge water jets erupted abruptly from the sea, forming water jets that could spark neon lights.The huge guys making waves in the sea stretched their huge whale tails out of the sea from time to time, and even jumped out from the sea level for a while, and then smashed the front half of the whale body heavily on the sea surface, quickly forming a shock wave that expanded outward.

"Stabilize everything for me." Imperial Knight Karl Von Seiding Horen yelled at Gong Tian, ​​who was steering the helm, while chewing the West Indian tobacco that Dongning imported from the British Guilian in an imageless way. "Cowards, cowards! If you're afraid of whales, you might as well get back under your mother's skirts now."

Although Gong Tian couldn't understand Karl's fluent Danish language, but he knew that these Hongyi people must be swearing again, so he slammed the rudder in his hand fiercely with a slight face, and the brand-new brig (two-masted sailing ship) Poseidon The number slid out a beautiful white track and slid past those graceful animals

There is enough evidence to show that as early as around 100 AD, the ancient Eskimos and North American Indians often used whaling to obtain a large amount of meat, fuel and materials for making tools.In Europe, systematic whaling began in the late Middle Ages around the Spanish Bay of Biscay. By the early 16th century, Basque whalers had been able to track whales, braving wind and waves for long distances to the coasts of Newfoundland and Iceland.After entering the 17th century, the Dutch and the English formed a huge whaling fleet. In the Netherlands alone, about 300 Dutch whaling ships and nearly 20000 whaling sailors went to sea a year. Davis Strait as far as Greenland and Canada.

"Look at me!" A Portuguese sailor named Barbarian Duke commanded a few small boats lowered from the Poseidon to quickly approach the group of gram whales (that is, gray whales) in front of them. Swimming slowly, suddenly the bull Duke threw down the whaling hook with the barb in his hand.

There was a whine that could not be heard by human ears, and the surrounding whales swam in a panic. Only the bleeding victim was struggling desperately. When the sea surface went down, the misfortune never came singly, the little Irishman Pomoron who commanded another small boat also stabbed the hunting fork in his hand vigorously.

The surface of the sea was churning like a boiling pot, and the injured whale was struggling desperately, but how could the boy scouts who were obedient and clinging to the rope let go, after tossing for a long time, after the whole sea was dyed red, this poor whale The whale finally lost its strength slowly.

At this time, the two boats playing the role of the brave dragged together, and quickly brought the dying whale to the stopped Poseidon.Several longer and thicker harpoons had been prepared on one side of the Poseidon. With an order, several young sailors threw down the harpoons one by one. The whale, which was already powerless to move, just fluttered slightly and completely lost its life. .

"Quickly, pull up the whale." In view of the fact that there are many sharks on the sea in East Asia, in order to ensure that the prey will not be snatched by the marine killers who smell blood, Captain Karl ordered, and soon with the help of the boom, A full 2 ​​to 3 tons of giants in the sea were hoisted onto the ship. "Today I will teach you how to refine whale oil on the spot."

Whale oil is an extremely important fat in the European world. It can be used not only for lighting but also for tanning. It is also used for tempering steel and as a lubricant. It can also be used as cooking oil and to make the famous candlelight dinner. The whale oil candle in it can be said to be the most important oil product in the European world before oil was widely used. It is also another important source of income that Zheng Kezang painstakingly figured out for Taiwan besides white sugar and rock sugar.

A bloody scene soon appeared. The huge whale was cut open and skinned on the spot.The white fat is directly removed and prepared for refining; except the best part of the bright red fish meat is ready to be eaten on the spot, the rest will be salted and stored as bacon, and the whale skin with part of the fat is carefully stored and used to make leather in the future ; Whale bones are also reserved and ready to be brought back to be crushed to become a high-quality phosphate fertilizer; as for whale teeth and baleen, they can also be used to make whips and tights; Ordered to be thrown into the sea to feed those bloodthirsty vicious sharks

The deck was washed clean with sea water, and after eating the whale meat that was slightly tenderer than veal, the teenagers in the sailor team were chirping excitedly. At this time, Captain Karl, who had already caught up with the departing whales, ordered: " In the afternoon, the ship will catch two more whales, and this time it will be caught by alternate students.”

The series of victories of the Ming Zheng army in Zhangzhou made Emperor Kangxi in the Forbidden City very angry. As the emperor who loved "name" the most in all dynasties, Kangxi could not allow the slightest stain to be left in history. The great contributions made by the Qing Dynasty, on the day after the disastrous defeat at Zushantou, they issued an order to arrest Lang Tingxiang and go to Beijing to await trial and order the governor Yang Xi to take office.After sweeping out the highest administrative officials in Fujian, Kangxi appointed Yao Qisheng, the former Fujian chief envoy, and Wu Xingzuo, the inspector envoy, to replace Lang and Yang, and reorganize the army to rescue Haicheng.

The whirlwind blowing in Beijing not only brought heavy pressure to Fujian, but also made Guangdong feel the chill.Shang Zhixin, who inherited Prince Pingnan, failed to cross Hainan and invade Qiongzhou, and turned to defeat the Wu army and rebel generals who invaded Gao, Lei, and Lian. Being questioned by the Qing court, he was in a state of panic. At this time, things hurt his kind, so he had to send the general Wang Guodong to lead his troops to Yizhang, Hunan to help in the battle. General Zu Zeqing, and then may go south to Qiongya, or go west to Guangxi.

"The grandson of Jian Guo means that I want the old man to send troops north to Leizhou to reinforce Zu Zeqing?" Youdao said that the general's foreign military orders will not be accepted. When Haishen went to Qiongzhou, if he changed to someone else, even if he didn't turn his face on the spot, he might not be able to accept his opinion, but Yang Xian was different. He had already recognized some of Zheng Kezang's talents.

"Master Yang, in fact, the descendants don't know much about the affairs in the west of Guangdong. They just want Master Yang to muddy the water. As for whether to directly send troops to Leizhou or to send troops to the city, everything is up to Mr. Yang. . " An envoy who came along with the navy fleet repeated to Yang Xian what Zheng Kezang explained. "Wu Sangui reported to the king in Hengzhou that the emperor of Zhou changed to Yuan Zhaowu. The king was furious. The feudal clan and the Wu army are obviously at odds, but no matter what, the current enemy is the Qing army. If they are defeated by the Tartars one by one , It is of no benefit to the great cause of this vassal."

Yang Xian nodded, and before he said anything, he listened to the emissary continue: "It's one thing to ask Mr. Yang to send troops, the other is that the king surrounded the Qing army in Haicheng, but there are many shortages of soldiers and supplies. Qionghai has three crops a year, so the descendants ask Mr. Yang to raise more military rations, and if Qionghai raises more, Taiwan will keep more energy."

Zheng Kezang's words were very cryptic, but Yang Xian couldn't hear it, he frowned, originally wanted to ask something back but held back.Yang Xian knew that the other party was just a messenger, and he didn't know Zheng Kezang's original intention at all. Since Zheng Kezang was no longer optimistic about the trend of the battle, all he could do was cooperate.

"There is no problem with food and sending troops, but what about the transport ship?" Yang Xian stroked the gray beard under his chin, and asked a question after thinking for a long time. "If I only rely on the boats I brought and the small boats of the Boy Scouts, I am afraid that even if I have prepared tens of thousands of stones of rations, I may not be able to transport them away in time."

"Jianguo asks Mr. Yang to go to the king immediately and transfer Zhu Tiangui's navy from Nan'ao to Qiongzhou to serve."

"Tune the navy in Nan'ao?" Yang Xian repeated in shock. "This, who is this instigated to supervise the country!"

Don't blame Yang Xian for making a fuss. Nan'ao Island is located in the sea at the junction of Guangdong, Fujian and Taiwan provinces. .In December of the third year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (January 1647), after Zhu Chenggong broke with Jiangqing's father Zheng Zhilong, he moved troops to Nan'ao and used it as his final base.Since then, in the frequent battles against the Qing Dynasty and preparations for the recovery of Taiwan, which lasted more than ten years, Zhu Chenggong visited Nan'ao Island many times to deploy combat matters, train soldiers and horses, and exercise naval forces. For more than a year, it is really a holy place in Zheng Jun's mind.Although Zhu Jin abandoned Nan'ao Island because of Jinxia's abandonment, since Zheng Jun returned to the mainland, there has been an elite naval force stationed here, and Zheng Kezang is based on this force. brains.

"Master Yang, please be calm and don't be impatient," the envoy was not intimidated by Yang Xian, but said eloquently. "Navy No. 20 Eight Towns and other ministries guard Nan'ao and Tongshan (Dongshan Island in Zhangzhou) is indeed a heavy responsibility. However, at this moment, the Guangdong Navy of the Qing Army is completely destroyed, and the Fujian Navy is pinned down on the front line of Dinghai. The lifeline of our clan is in Haicheng. What is the reason for such a battle force to be vacant at this time?" Seeing Yang Xian's expression softened, the envoy continued. "Furthermore, the meaning of Jianguo is to call out the civilian ships, cargo ships, and of course a small number of warships to escort it, and not to shake its foundation."

"No," Yang Xian shook his head suddenly. He felt that Zheng Kezang's intention to mobilize the South Australia garrison was not as simple as the envoy said, so he asked. "No, if it's just to use civilian ships and cargo ships, Yuan Zida can advise the king on his own, why do he have to turn a corner and let the old man come forward?" Yang Xian suddenly guessed something, and stared at the envoy dumbfounded. "Jianguo mean? Impossible, impossible, Zhu Tiangui is also a veteran of this feudal clan."

"Master Yang is thinking too much," the envoy chuckled. "The supervisor didn't say anything."

"Is that so?" Yang Xian fell into deep thought, and it took him a long time to raise his head. "Forget it, the servant will bow down immediately. The so-called one thing does not bother the two masters. I will trouble you to present this memorial to the king for me."

"promise!"