Chapter 342 The Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty

Yangzhou, on the surface of Sanjiangying River.

"Take it!"

Li Dan's sworn brother Xu Xinsu looked at the gunboats riding the wind and waves behind him anxiously urging the sailors behind him.

The latter is constantly abandoning cargo in the tank.

Now they have turned the Sanjiang Camp into the southward channel, riding on the north wind and low tide sea water, the armed merchant ship is accelerating a little by little due to the weight reduction, but the problem is that the six warships behind are chasing them are as smooth as the distance between the two sides. At the same time he shouted, the smoke of the head of a warship rose.

"Your Majesty, hurry into the cabin!"

He yelled at His Majesty the Emperor not far away.

Almost at the same time, the whistling of the shells passed over the head, and an instant hole appeared on the sail.

Then the shell stirred up a water column not far ahead.

"fight back!"

Xu Xinsu yelled immediately.

Their tail cannon immediately opened fire at the back.

His Majesty the Emperor did not return to the cabin, but looked at the battleship behind him with a little sadness.

Their escape from Nanjing was actually very smooth, and it was unbelievable. Xu Xinsu and his subordinates rushed out of Bei'anmen Square on horseback because the soldiers and civilians were blocked in the south, and there was no one in the north, and even Taiping Gate was unpredictable. It was estimated that the soldiers there had also gone to Chengtian Gate. They rushed out of Nanjing City without any obstacles and headed north.

There was chaos outside the city, and His Majesty the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine had to change their clothes, but no one paid attention to them.

They ran to Yanziji like this.

Xu Xinsu originally took three armed merchant ships from the Li family to Nanjing for trade, but because of the dry season, the Xiaguan Wharf was too crowded, so she stopped at Yanziji Wharf. After they arrived at the wharf, they just got on the boat and got the anchor. Then they fled Nanjing without any danger. When they arrived in Zhenjiang, they didn't know why, but the local area probably hadn't received any news yet, so Jiaoshan Fortress did not intercept it.

They passed Zhenjiang unimpededly.

But their good luck in Sanjiang Camp finally ended.

The six warships stationed in Sanjiang Camp suddenly set sail and rushed towards them just as they passed, and both sides chased them all the way to this place.

"How far is there to leave the militia area ahead?"

His Majesty the Emperor said.

"About a hundred miles, the militia area and Susong regiment are bounded by the Xicheng Canal. It's okay if these warships are just going well now. As long as we continue to lose weight, it's still possible to get rid of them. But I'm afraid that the water militia in front are all centipede boats that double as fishing, and the man-made paddles are faster than us."

Xu Xinsu said.

He is the core figure under Li Dan.

Now, under the banner of the Nanyang Xuanwei Envoy, Li Dan has essentially formed the Ming version of the East India Company.

The name is even Nanyang Company. This word was originally used by Fujian people in the process of overseas development. It was originally a kind of company. However, this Nanyang Company was similar. It was led by Dai Yi, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, to win over the families of Fujian and Guangdong provinces, and jointly contributed money to the maritime merchants led by Li Dan. As one of their professional managers and major shareholders, the latter was responsible for the company's management, which was to build armed merchant ships and then control the trade in the entire Nanyang direction.

After all, it is impossible for those aristocratic families to go out to sea in person, so the work of such outlaws must be handed over to professionals, and they are responsible for supplying the dividends.

Currently, this company owns hundreds of armed merchant ships of all sizes.

But not long ago, because Zhejiang and Wusong Navy went north, their business in Hirado was seriously affected, and even a naval battle broke out in the Korean Strait.

Nanyang Company was defeated.

They are all armed merchant ships and cannot defeat their opponents' warships.

However, the latter was not able to cross the strait, so the two sides held a peace talk, just like the Pope's Meridian Line, demarcating the north of the Chongming Sha to Ryukyu line to the sphere of influence of Jiangsu and Zhejiang merchants, and free trade to the south of this line, but this free trade is about it. After all, it is impossible for Zhejiang merchant ships to go to Nanyang without supply stations. At this time, Nanyang was the stronghold of Nanyang Company, and no matter the coastal ports along Fujian and Guangdong, Manila, Hoi An, and Peking University were all from Nanyang Company. Originally, these places were also operated by Nanyang Company.

How do they fight with Nanyang Company?

The ability to grab the trade rights of Japan from the Nanyang Company has temporarily satisfied the gentry of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

The Wusong Navy allowed Nanyang Company to enter the Yangtze River directly.

I have to say that the merchants of the Ming Dynasty have become more and more sensual about the Age of Discovery.

The Zhejiang fleet even intercepted Portuguese merchant ships and did not allow them to trade directly with Japan, and the latter was so tolerant.

After all, they can't beat the Zhejiang fleet.

Nanyang Company is now very arrogant in Nanyang, and even fired fire in Manila to threaten the Spaniards.

the latter……

The latter also endured it.

How many people can Spain have in Luzon?

Behind Nanyang Company is a population of more than 10 million in Fujian and Guangdong provinces. It is estimated that the entire Spanish Empire may not have as many populations as them at this time.

Xu Xinsu's rescue of Wanli was purely Li Zhi's request, who now belongs to the spiritual leader of Fujian gentry.

Nanyang Company obeyed his orders in Nanjing.

Moreover, in the past two years, His Majesty the Emperor and Li Dan have been in close contact. Even Nanyang Company actually has shares of His Majesty the Emperor. Dai Yi himself is an old minister like Xing Jie. He regards himself as a guard for Wanli in Guangdong, and usually encourages Nanyang Company with loyalty and righteousness...

After shouting for a long time, I really believe it.

"militia!"

Suddenly, a scream on the mast rang out.

Xu Xinsu immediately turned his head and raised the telescope in his hand.

At the Beixin River mouth in the direction of Taixing, rows of oars are rushing out, rushing straight into the reed-growing waterway during the dry season.

"Tell the four officials and stop them!"

Xu Xinsu shouted.

He had three ships in total. His one was in the middle. The one on the right immediately turned and rushed straight to the oar fleet that was piercing in front of them. At the same time, he set up a side gun to open fire. However, the centipede ships set up rockets and then used rockets to fight back at the ship. The rockets had long barbs at the front, and once they hit the sail, they would hang up. Then the blocked rockets would constantly spray flames on the sails, and an accident would turn the entire ship into a sea of ​​fire.

This is the main heavy weapon of the water militia, especially on the Yangtze River.

While they were fighting, Xu Xinsu's ship continued to move forward.

His Majesty the Emperor stood on the deck and looked over his head. Many rockets flew directly over the four officials' ships because they were hit high.

He just watched a rocket fall from the sky and hit their sails.

But at the same time, the tail flame was extinguished.

His Majesty the Emperor breathed a sigh of relief...

"Your Majesty, lie down!"

Xu Xinsu screamed, and then he threw His Majesty the Emperor on the deck.

The next moment, the rockets above their heads exploded, and the rain of fire and the broken sails fell in the smoke.

The imperial concubine who happened to go out screamed in fear.

Xu Xinsu and His Majesty the Emperor quickly got up and threw down the sparks on their bodies. Xu Xinsu looked at the back in panic on the messy deck, because the ship under their feet was slowing down. The rocket caused a heavy blow to one of their sails, which was actually useless. The Red Turban Army warships, which were originally keeping a distance, were gradually getting closer. The six warships sprayed smoke almost at the front of them at the same time. Twelve shells roared, and one was hitting the deck not far away.

The nine-jin shells instantly splashed the broken wood on the deck, and the two sailors fell down screaming.

The ship on their left quickly turned, and fired behind the side guns, while the ship at their feet continued to move forward.

The Shiguan's ship was hit by a rocket and burned.

The sailors were jumping in chaos.

"Your Majesty, it seems that you can't leave!"

Xu Xinsu said with a bitter smile.

Li Zhi also walked out of the cabin. The three of them watched the warships getting closer and closer behind, and another shell hit their ship.

The bounced shells hit two sailors not far away and splattered flesh and blood.

His Majesty the Emperor took out his short gun and looked at it...

"I can't be humiliated!"

He measured his head, but his hands were trembling.

"Long live the Lord!"

The imperial concubine cried and rushed towards him, and His Majesty the Emperor had to put down his gun and hugged the imperial concubine.

"Wusong Navy!"

Suddenly, a scream broke the hug of their old couple.

Everyone turned behind, and more than a dozen warships were placing horizontal formations on the river surface in the distance. All the gun doors on the side were opened, and more than two hundred cannons were aimed at this side. On the masts of these warships, the Xuanniao flag of the Wusong Navy was flying. Because Yang Feng introduced a clear military flag, all parties are following the example now. The Wusong Navy uses the yellow Xuanniao flag as the military flag. As for the Nanyang Company, they use the Mazu flag, so it is easy to distinguish between each other.

"Hurry, take my dragon robe!"

His Majesty the Emperor suddenly felt refreshed, and then pushed the imperial concubine and said.

Xu Xinsu stood there in a tangled manner, but he didn't stop him in the end. After all, the two sides have already negotiated peace.

And if they don’t go to find the Wusong Navy at this time, they will have to be killed by the Red Turban Army.

The imperial concubine quickly brought the dragon robe. His Majesty the Emperor changed it as quickly as possible, walked directly to the bow of the ship in front, and waved his hands at the muzzle in the distance.
To be continued...