Horse on the World

Chapter 142 Fuzhou Navy
Hailing County is built along the sea, and it is prosperous because it has the largest seaport in Fuzhou. It has a population and city size no less than that of Huai'an, the capital of Fuzhou. , and here, there are more sea merchants and civilians, as well as sailors, fishermen, and salt workers who depend on the sea for food.

People walking on the street are far from the leisurely and calm Huai’an people, but walk in a hurry, most of their faces are rough eroded by the sea wind, or they are dressed in coarse linen, or wearing only a pair of calf shorts, showing their muscular robustness figure.

The streets are far from being as neat and well-planned as in Huai'an, but instead stretch randomly. Temporary wooden houses abound, and randomly placed stalls occupy only half of the street, barely enough for a carriage to pass through. Shouting with a local accent, steaming snacks, chickens barking, dogs barking, people shouting horses neighing, presents a lively scene.

Accompanied by Xiang Feng, Li Qing and his party went to Hailing. Li Qing insisted on meeting with that Deputy General Deng. The reason was to ensure the safety of his own people. For this purpose, he paid another 5000 taels of silver. Apart from that, he couldn't help sighing that the ability to collect money from the fat man is really too much, he can find a reason to ask for money for anything.

When they arrived at the navy station, they were told that Vice Admiral Deng had gone to inspect the warship, so the group rode their horses again and went straight to the navy wharf.The Navy Wharf and the Commercial Wharf are adjacent to each other, separated by a long embankment. At noon, when the sun is shining, there are not many people on the wharf. Most of them are lazily hiding under some simple huts, drinking tea, chatting and sleeping .Because of the sea breeze, it doesn't feel particularly hot, but the fishy smell is strong and the humidity is also high, so I feel that my body is moist and uncomfortable.

Li Qing just glanced at it, and broke into a burst of sweat. There are more than [-] boats, large and small, docked at the Navy Wharf. The largest one is only about [-] pieces in size, and it looks like it belongs to the kind of old Several of the boats were sailing out of the pier, most likely out on patrol, with patches piled on top of the sails, colorful and sewn on with unknown fabrics.Compared with the large ships on the nearby commercial wharf, the smallest is [-] materials, and most of them are [-] materials. Staying next to these big households seemed extremely wretched and ugly.

"This is the Fuzhou Navy?" Li Qing pointed to the broken and lost ships at the dock of the Navy, and asked Xiang Feng tongue-tiedly.

Xiang Feng was a little embarrassed, and nodded with an unnatural smile: "Well, the navy is short of military resources, and every time it goes to sea, it costs a lot of money. Although the commander raised funds from various sources, it is difficult to improve the status quo, so he can only maintain the status quo."

Li Qing laughed. At the current price of a ship, a large ship with five thousand materials only needs ten thousand taels of silver. The money he paid to Fatty yesterday was enough for him to buy five large ships. The navy is Fuzhou's biggest reliance , but looking at it now, it's not what it looks like.

"Well, the navy ships are a little short, but the officers and soldiers of the navy are still very elite." Xiang Feng said bravely.

As if to verify Xiang Feng's words, a few low-ranking officers in the uniform of the captain of the Navy Yunhui walked past them, and they seemed to be preparing to go back to the ship, but what made Xiang Feng's eyes green was that these Wei actually hugged a beautiful and smeared woman, and by the way she was walking, she must have drunk a lot.What they said made Xiang Feng even more mad.

"Oh beauty, what are you talking about, you want to see the gun carriage on the navy, no problem, no problem, I can even let you shoot it, how about it, but you can get it tonight, ah, ah, hahaha !"

Li Qing and the others held back their laughter, and turned their heads aside, not looking at Xiang Feng's flushed face.

Cough cough, Xiang Feng had a dry cough, and he managed to get over it for a while, afraid that Li Qing would see this scene, turn his head and go back to Huai'an, and ask the commander to get back more than 6 taels of silver, "Marshal Li, this navy is also good and bad, There are always scum, and they will be severely punished in the future, but it is different with Vice Admiral Deng, they are the elite of our entire Fuzhou Navy!"

Li Qing pretended to be ignorant and asked: "General Xiang, isn't Deputy General Deng the commander of the entire navy? He doesn't care if his subordinates are messing around like this? Looking at it like this, I'm afraid he won't be much better there, right?"

Xiang Feng was embarrassed again, he couldn't tell Li Qing that the commander had almost stripped Vice Admiral Deng of his rights for the convenience of smuggling. Right now, Vice Admiral Deng can only command a naval battalion under his direct control.

In order to save the face that was about to be lost, Xiang Feng quickened his pace. He knew where Lieutenant Deng Peng Deng was, and he knew that there was only one way to change Dashuai Li's opinion a little bit.

When he came to a [-]-year-old navy ship, Xiang Feng pointed to the ship and said, "Marshal, this is Vice Admiral Deng's flagship." Sitting close to the ship, it was the same as what he saw before. It’s been a few years, but it’s well maintained. A few sailors are wearing ropes, hanging outside and using brushes to vigorously clean the attachments on the outside of the ship. On the deck, many sailors are busy. The empty ships in the port are much more lively than the empty ones. A man with the appearance of an old farmer was holding the side of the ship and yelling at the sailors who were cleaning the outside, as if he thought they were not cleaned.

"That's Lieutenant General Deng!" Xiang Feng pointed at the old man and said.

Apparently, the old man also saw Li Qing and his party approaching gradually. He was startled for a moment, then he became happy, waved his hands and shouted: "General Xiang, you are here. Did you come to me a few days ago?" Did you get the maintenance fee you asked for from the Marshal? Or is the Marshal not at ease, thinking that I am cheating and sending you to inspect it?"

Xiang Feng smiled and said to Li Qing: "The biggest pleasure of Vice General Deng is to ask the Marshal for money."

"I'm afraid nine out of ten times will fail!" Li Qing joked.

Xiang Feng blushed, "That's not true." He turned around and shouted to Deng Peng who was running towards him, "Old Deng, I didn't bring any money, but I brought you some distinguished guests!"

Hearing this, Deng Peng's high emotions dropped at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the speed of his walking dropped in a straight line.

"Old Deng, don't put on such a face, do you know who I brought you today?"

Deng Peng approached slowly, and Li Qing was surprised to find that this senior military officer with the rank of deputy general was wearing a pair of bare feet, his trouser legs were rolled up to his knees, and his sleeves were also rolled up. It was the traces of wind and rain. If Li Qing knew that the lieutenant general had just passed forty, looking at the deep wrinkles on his face, he would really think that he was close to sixty years old.

"Deputy General Deng is used to being unkempt. Don't be offended, Commander!" Xiang Feng explained to Li Qing, while blaming Deng Peng: "Old Deng, what do you look like? You still have the dignity of a lieutenant general, and you still wear it A pair of bare feet will make guests laugh."

Deng Peng said slowly: "General Xiang Shen is not an officer of the Navy, so he naturally didn't know that he was on a ship. Bare feet are much more secure than wearing official boots. These are the guests you brought me. It's strange, Xiang Shen General, what kind of guests did you bring me for no reason?" There was already a vigilant gleam in his eyes.

"Dingzhou Li Qing!" Li Qing said with a faint smile and cupped his hands.Yang Yidao behind him also cupped his hands and said, "Dingzhou Yang Yidao!"

"What?" Deng Peng stared at Li Qing in astonishment, "What did you just say?"

Xiang Feng said angrily, "Old Deng, your ears are failing. This is Marshal Li from Dingzhou. He came here to see you."

Deng Peng's eyes lit up, "Marshal Li in Dingzhou!" He quickly cupped his hands, "Your name is like thunder, and I have admired him for a long time. Oh, I have seen Marshal Li in my humble position!" He actually bent his knees and was about to make a big gift.

Li Qing took a step forward and grabbed Deng Peng: "Deputy General Deng, look at the clothes you and I are dressed in, and you still care about whether you are up or down, no need, no need!"

Deng Peng smiled, stood up straight, and looked at Li Qing, who was dressed like a gentleman of Guijie, and himself, who looked like an old sailor. "The several battles in Dingzhou caused the barbarians to cry and howl, which is very exciting. Even though Deng is in Fuzhou, his blood boils when he hears about it! It's a pity..." Speaking of this, I couldn't help but lose my spirits.

Xiang Feng was afraid that he would say something nasty again, so he hurriedly said, "Old Deng, it's because of your great honor that Marshal Li can come to you, why don't you invite Marshal Li to your flagship?"

"It's just right!" Deng Peng suddenly realized, and said: "Marshal Li has lived in Dingzhou for a long time, and he is an immediate general. He is really curious about this navy ship. It is reasonable to come to Fuzhou to see the navy. Please, Marshal Li."

Li Qing was amused in his heart, these broken ships aroused his interest, but this navy lieutenant was a bit interesting, so he could just start now.

Behind him, Xiang Feng pulled Deng Peng aside and muttered a few words secretly. Deng Peng's expression turned extremely ugly. Xiang Feng must have told him about some bad deeds of the navy officers and soldiers just now.

"Don't worry, Admiral Xiang, I will definitely let Marshal Li see the fierce men of our Fuzhou navy." He whispered, and then said indignantly: "Marshal Xiang made the navy look like this, it's really embarrassing. "

Hearing what Deng Peng said, Xiang Feng immediately shut his mouth.

Deng Peng's flagship is a multi-story ship with three floors. Climb up the string ladder and you will find the deck. The deck is a bit worn out and even cracked in some places, but it is tidied up in an orderly manner. On the side of the ship, there are some simple versions of the eight-ox crossbow. Li Qing knows that the operation of the eight-ox crossbow requires more people, but the ship obviously does not have these conditions. The power of these crossbows is obviously far inferior to the eight-ox crossbow used for defending the city. , but it is much faster. Generally speaking, it takes one arrow to shoot eight oxen crossbows in the city, and these can shoot three arrows.

Seeing Li Qing pay attention to these crossbows, Deng Peng stepped forward and said: "Marshal Li, these crossbows have an effective range of about [-] steps, and about ten sets are arranged in a ship, and about [-] soldiers are needed to operate them. They are mainly used to attack the enemy from a long distance. These improved crossbows can also fire rockets, but in water battles, the stone cannons are more powerful, and they are placed on the third-floor platform, so the commander can see them after a while."

Li Qing nodded, and followed Deng Peng to climb upstairs. On the third floor, a tall mast was erected, and there was a very small platform on it, which was obviously the watchtower on the ship. There are bows and arrows on the female wall to resist the enemy, and at the same time, there are stacking plates on the female wall to facilitate soldiers to attack the enemy.The stone cannon that Deng Peng used was located on the third floor, and it looked more like some simple trebuchets.

"Deputy General Deng, shouldn't warships be covered with leather or something to prevent the enemy from attacking? Why didn't I see it?" Li Qing asked puzzled.

Deng Peng glanced at Xiang Feng, hesitated to speak, Xiang Feng hurriedly said: "The commander is raising funds, I believe it will be equipped for the navy soon." Li Qing smiled slightly, and didn't bother to expose the other party's lies. Deng Peng walked to the female wall, looked at the harbor and said, "Marshal Li, naval warships are divided into two types: high-rise ships and Ge-ships. These are all large warships. Our current ship is a high-rise ship. Please look at it, Marshal. , that one is called Xiandeng, which is the first human warship to attack the enemy in battle, and the narrow and long warship is called "Jiang", which is used to attack the enemy. There are some small boats over there, the red ones, we Call him a red horse, he is extremely fast." When it comes to naval ships, Deng Peng talked endlessly, his face brightened.

Xiang Feng was a little impatient, but seeing that Li Qing listened with gusto and was not easy to interrupt, he finally waited until Deng Peng stopped, and immediately said: "Deputy General Deng, it's rare for Marshal Li to come, why don't you let Marshal Li see you?" Your sailor athlete?"

Deng Peng suddenly realized, and then remembered what Xiang Feng said when he boarded the boat. He walked to the side of the parapet, pressed his lips together as a whistle, and suddenly blew a long and sharp whistle. Under the puzzled eyes of Li Qing and others, everyone Suddenly, I felt that the ship was shaking slightly, and then the sound of rumbling footsteps came. In the blink of an eye, ten rows of soldiers with bare feet were neatly lined up on the deck of the first floor. 500 people up and down.Even the few soldiers who were cleaning the attachments outside the boat climbed up in twos and twos, untied the ropes around their waists, and ran to the end of the team to stand up.

Li Qing couldn't help clapping his hands and applauding. The combat effectiveness of a team can be seen from the speed of their assembly and the neatness of the queue. It seems that Deng Peng has many athletes under his command, and he is also very capable in running the army. However, these soldiers Their clothes are also a bit rotten, most of the military uniforms on their bodies are very old, and basically no one wears armor.

"Deputy General Deng, do they also dress like this in normal battles?" Li Qing asked.

Deng Peng nodded and said: "Never encountered a large group of enemies, but the navy is just some pirates who don't know how to do it."

Li Qing frowned slightly. In today's naval battles, the damage caused by long-range weapons is limited, and the problem is mainly solved by fighting close to the side. These soldiers do not wear armor, so the chance of injury and death will be very high. Training a qualified sailor is comparable to training a land soldier It was much more difficult, and Li Qing felt such a pity for such unnecessary consumption.

Seeing that the team on Deng Peng's flagship was so strong, Li Qing was not worth it for Xiang Xianhe. For a small profit, he actually set aside such a capable naval general, and easily broke his own most powerful arm. Once something happens, I really don't know how I died.

I said it was a supplement, but I didn't expect to make a big chapter of [-] words. Well, that's it.Let's count the votes, my recommended ticket is short of the old nose, it's almost thirty, and if the gunner's monthly ticket reaches [-] votes tomorrow, I will add four chapters.

(End of this chapter)