Chapter 83: Cotton for Gunslinger Training
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Su Ze's eyes lit up, he looked at Haihou'er eagerly, and asked quickly: "Master Hu, are you going to sell this batch of cotton to Songjiang Prefecture?"
Haihou'er spat out. : "Sell it! Songjiang Mansion was destroyed by Japanese pirates last year. I heard that Songjiang Mansion was burned for three days and three nights. All the looms were burned out. More than ten thousand weavers fled in all directions, and most of them were robbed by Japanese pirates."
For the Japanese pirates from the sea trade faction, Haihouer, they also deeply hate the pirates from the predatory faction who disrupt the economic order and plunder wantonly.
These people have made the southeast a mess, making it impossible to do business well.
Moreover, these bandits went crazy and wanted to rob their companions. The fighting between the Japanese pirates at sea was even more cruel than the fighting between the Japanese pirates and the Ming army. This is why Zhang Haihu retreated to the open sea.
However, when Su Ze heard Haihouer scolding Japanese pirates, Su Ze still felt something was strange. Wasn't he also a Japanese pirate?
Nanpi Island is close to the coast and has fresh water. Once Lu Dawang invades Fujian, he will definitely capture Nanpi Island first as a frontline base.
Although Zhang Haihu also had several large ships, these were ships for sea trade and could not compete with King Lu's warships.
Abandoning Nanpi Island at this time is the way to minimize losses. When this wave of Japanese pirates have plundered enough, they will naturally retreat, and it will not be too late to return to Nanpi Island at that time.
Su Ze couldn't help but feel sad when he heard Haihou'er talking about the tragic situation in Songjiang Mansion. You must know that Songjiang Mansion is now a prosperous mansion in the south of the Yangtze River. It is a major cotton and silk textile town in the south of the Yangtze River. hometown.
Such an important economic town was robbed by Japanese pirates, and all the looms in Songjiang Mansion were burned down. Only then did Su Ze deeply feel that the Japanese pirate rebellion was not a simple record of a few lines in a book, but a tragic disaster for countless people.
Su Ze came back to his senses and said quickly: "In that case, can Mr. Hou sell this batch of cotton to us?"
Haihou'er rolled his eyes and said: "This batch of cotton has a hundred tons, and you can count one or two for each load. How about five cents of silver?"
Su Ze immediately compared the prices in the "Appraisal" skill, and then snorted coldly and said: "Master Monkey is so insincere, and this business cannot be negotiated. You sell this batch of cotton to Songjiang Mansion. It's only one tael or three cents of silver per load, do you think our seventh master is being taken advantage of?"
Haihou'er now knew that Su Ze was knowledgeable, so he had to relent and said, "In that case, how about one tael or two cents of silver per load?"
Su Ze continued: "Cotton has been at sea for a long time, and it can no longer be used after being exposed to salt gas. Our seventh master is helping Master Hu share the worries, so forget it if we don't sell it." Haihou'er then relaxed and said: "One load per
load Two taels of silver, no less!"
"Deal!"
"Delivery here in seven days, money and goods."
[Counteroffer successful, skill "Buying" experience +20, Lv1, 36/100]
Haihou'er After leaving by boat, Zhu Qi was so paralyzed that he could no longer stand.
"It's over, it's over, King Lu is here!"
Zhu Qi wailed. When he was captured by Su Ze, he didn't cry so miserably.
Su Ze frowned and asked: "Stop crying, tell me about the origin of this Deer King."
Zhu Qi then said: "This Deer King is a real Japanese leader under Monk Mingshan. He comes from Kagoshima at the southern end of the Japanese country. , so I call myself King Lu."
Su Ze understood now that this King Lu was probably the real leader of the Japanese Rongrants under Xu Feng.
There has been a lot of debate in historians about how many of the Japanese pirates were real Japanese. In later generations, some self-media even proposed that only 10% of the Japanese pirates in the Southeast were real Japanese.
Of course, this also has its source. In the "Wuxue Pian" written by Zheng Xiao in the Ming Dynasty, it was said for the first time that "most of the thieves are Chinese, and only one-tenth of the Japanese slaves are Chinese." However, this statement is only Zheng Xiao's general statement
. It is inferred that "Wuxue Pian" itself is not an official document, but was compiled privately by Zheng Xiao. In fact, its credibility as a historical material is not high.
Moreover, the records in "Wuxue Pian" are different from those in many local chronicles. In fact, there were not many real Japanese pirates among them.
In many materials, a certain Japanese pirate leader will be called Daiwang or Xiaowang. This type of Japanese pirates are basically real Japanese, and this deer king is a real Japanese from Kagoshima.
These real Japanese were all wandering warriors from the Japanese country, or some pirates and bandits from the Japanese country. They originally only crossed the sea sporadically to invade the southeast. During the Jiajing period, they mostly attached themselves to Wang Zhi or Xu Feng and began to attack the Ming Dynasty in an organized manner. Southeast region.
This deer king led troops to attack the southeast many times, plundered more than a dozen coastal towns, and even bombarded the city of Fuzhou. He was famous in the southeast. No wonder Zhu Qi was frightened when he heard his name. trembling.
"How many people are under King Lu's command?"
Zhu Qi said with a trembling voice: "There are a thousand people!"
Su Ze was speechless for a while, how could a thousand people scare you like this?
The Yanping Guards of Yu Zongyuan's family had 5,000 regular soldiers. Fuzhou City was where the Fujian Dusi Yamen and the Fujian Beiwa General Headquarters were located. There must be more soldiers than the Yanping Guards. There were actually 1,000 Japanese pirates suppressing them. beat?
Zhu Qi said quickly: "All the Lu King's men are real Japanese! The real Japanese are so numerous that they are invincible! This Lu King is very vindictive, and anyone who offends him will be wildly retaliated by him! When Fuzhou City was bombarded last time, A Baihu sent troops to block King Lu's fleet, but King Lu turned around and killed that Baihu!"
Su Ze was furious and said: "The court did not encircle and suppress such a ferocious beast, but allowed him to commit crimes on the sea? "
Zhu Qi sighed and said: "Let alone siege. Fuzhou was besieged, and only one hundred households dared to send troops to rescue, and they were killed by King Lu. After that, the Ming Dynasty Navy took a detour when they saw King Lu." Su
Ze I knew that the Ming Dynasty was bad, but I didn’t expect that the Ming Dynasty was so bad.
A mere thousand people actually frightened the entire southeast into peace!
After returning to Changning Guard with his head covered, Lin Mojun was wearing a hood and standing in front of the family temple.
She felt the dull atmosphere in the team and asked, "Did the transaction not go smoothly?"
Su Ze nodded first, then shook his head, and then walked into the family temple side by side with Lin Mojun.
"Zhang Haihu is about to withdraw to the open sea. They got the news that King Lu is going to attack Fujian."
Hearing King Lu's name, everyone in the family temple exclaimed, and even Lin Mojun's body trembled slightly.
When he just mentioned King Deer, Su Ze felt that something was wrong in the atmosphere. When he mentioned this name in the family temple, the atmosphere in the entire family temple seemed to solidify.
Even the usually calm Aunt Ninth asked in a sharp voice: "Are you talking about the Deer King?"
Su Ze nodded, and saw Aunt Ninth say with a worried face: "What should we do!"
Su Ze realized at this moment that it seemed that Chang Ning Wei and the Deer King had an entanglement. He quickly asked: "Auntie, does this Lu King have a grudge against Chang Ning Wei?"
Lin Mojun said coldly: "Revenge for killing his father."
Su Ze was stunned for a moment. It turned out that the Baihu who Zhu Qi mentioned was killed by King Lu in front of the Fuzhou Army was Lin Mojun's father, the previous Baihu of Changning Guard. !
Su Ze felt that the atmosphere was getting colder, and Aunt Ninth said quickly: "Hundred households! The Japanese pirates are powerful, so we need to consider the long term!"
Lin Mojun laughed miserably and said: "Auntie, don't worry, I won't lead the guards to die. ."
Aunt Ninth breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Let's quickly tell Fuzhou Dusi and General Si Yamen the news so that they can take precautions."
Lin Mojun nodded and said, "I'll go back to Baihu's office right away." Military situation, Auntie, I'm going back first."
As soon as Lin Mojun walked out of the door, thunder rang out in the changeable weather in the south of Fujian Province, and raindrops as big as soybeans fell from the sky, hitting the colorful tiles of the temple, sending out pearls. The sound of falling jade plates.
Su Ze put on his raincoat and another set of raincoat, and chased Lin Mojun out with a lantern, and soon caught up with Lin Mojun who was in despair.
The rain fell on the brim of her hat, making all her clothes wet. Su Ze quickly handed over the bamboo hat and coir raincoat and said, "
Baihu, don't catch a cold." Lin Mojun came to his senses and put on the raincoat. The coir raincoat put on his bamboo hat, thanked him, and walked in front in silence.
Su Ze followed, and the two of them walked to the front of the Baihu House one after another.
"Do you want revenge?" Su Ze suddenly stopped and asked.
Lin Mojun stopped and turned to look at Su Ze. The rain screen blocked the line of sight between the two, and Lin Mojun could only see the light on Su Ze's hand.
"The elite guards who were trained by my father couldn't defeat the Deer King. How could I fight with him?"
Su Ze said, "Do you remember what I said? It's not about having more soldiers but being good. If there are more soldiers, it's better to be better." If we can win, then the Fuzhou Guard will not be suppressed by King Lu in Fuzhou City."
Lin Mojun raised his head and looked at Su Ze and said, "Are you sure? My father died in the battle that year, and the Changning Wei family wears filial piety. We can't let this happen. My family's private enmity has caused the guards to bleed again."
Su Ze said seriously: "A hundred people died to protect the people of Fujian, how can it be said to be a private enmity? This is the hatred of the country and the family, how can we not avenge it!?"
" Baihu, let's go in and talk."
Lin Mojun looked at the raindrops on the bamboo hat and quickly led Su Ze into Baihu.
Although Su Ze was wearing a raincoat, the rain was so strong that his shirt was soaked.
When Su Ze took off his raincoat, Lin Mojun quickly turned around and said, "I'm going to get a set of clothes. Mr. Su, please change into them first, so you don't catch a cold."
Lin Mojun ran into the room in a panic and took the clothes from her father's closet. He took out a set of cloth clothes, dragged the little carrot Lin Liangjun out of the bed, and told him to hand it over to Su Ze.
Then he ran back to his boudoir, changed into a new set of clean clothes, and then put on the veil again to meet Su Ze.
At this time, Su Ze was already sitting in front of the brazier, warming himself up. Little Carrot Head had already gone back to sleep, rubbing his eyes after giving away his clothes.
Lin Mojun felt a little embarrassed when a man and a woman were alone in the same room at night.
Although Lin Mojun joined the army on behalf of his younger brother, he usually stayed with the guardsmen outside. Most of the people in the guardhouse were related to him, and some of them were uncles and elders who had watched Lin Mojun grow up.
But tonight, she was in the same room with Su Ze, a strange man from outside Changning Guard, and Lin Mojun always felt that the atmosphere was a bit subtle.
However, Su Ze didn't take it seriously. He put on a cloth shirt that was fully patched. When he saw that it was the clothes of the deceased Baihu, Su Ze couldn't help but sigh that Changning Wei, the previous Baihu, was indeed an honest and upright military attaché. .
It's a pity that such a person died young on the battlefield. After his death, the court only issued a warning. The Japanese pirates who killed him are still raging in Fujian.
The obsession to avenge his father made Lin Mojun ask:
"Mr. Su, do you have a way to kill the deer king?"
Su Ze shook his head.
Lin Mojun said in a low voice: "Hey, King Lu has been causing trouble to Fujian for so many years, and even the general secretary in Fuzhou can't do anything to him. Our Changning Guard is just a hundred-household office, what can we do?" Su Ze said:
" If you know yourself and the enemy, you can win a hundred battles. Now that I know nothing about King Lu, how can I kill him?"
Lin Mojun regained some hope. After her father died in the battle, she tried her best to find out the information about King Lu.
Lin Mojun said slowly:
"This Deer King is a real Japanese from Kagoshima, a Japanese country. He was originally a wandering warrior from the Japanese country, with no name or surname. Later, he was subdued by Xu Feng and took his place of birth as his surname. He became Xu Feng's personal guard. Later, Xu Feng valued him and allowed him to go out and lead a Japanese pirate team independently." "
The deer king's subordinates are all real Japanese pirates he recruited from his hometown of Kagoshima. They are fierce and cruel, and every day After the Second World War, no one was left alive. All the men and children were slaughtered, and all the women were looted and tortured to death."
At this point, Lin Mojun clenched his fists. When his father was defeated, all the soldiers who went out to fight were slaughtered by King Lu. , and his father was brutally killed by King Lu in front of the Fuzhou City defenders. No one from the tens of thousands of Ming troops in Fuzhou City dared to go out to rescue him.
Su Ze also lamented the poor combat effectiveness of the Ming army on the southeast coast. No wonder Zhu Qi trembled with fear when he heard the name of King Lu.
"How many soldiers, how many warships and equipment does King Lu have under his command?"
Lin Mojun said: "There are a thousand real Japanese under King Lu. It turns out there were four Japanese ships. Last time my father died in the battle, Chang Ning Wei The lucky ship with 200 materials also fell into their hands." "The
deer king has a Japanese sword team of 200 people, all of which use Japanese swords made of fine steel." "
This Japanese sword team is not only He is good at land combat, and can also use springboards and cables to fight on the side. The last time my father fought at sea, he was rushed onto the warship by the Japanese swordsman team, and then he lost the opportunity." "Except for the Japanese swordsman team,
Lu The king also has a hundred-man iron gun team, who use bird guns to fight, and there are dozens of archers." "
The deer king has a set of Japanese armor, which can not only protect against arrows, but also bird guns and firearms. He is born with supernatural power, and every time he personally leads the Japanese swordsman team to charge, my Ming army often collapses at the first charge, and collapses at the first touch."
Now I finally understand how the Lu King got his illustrious reputation, this guy's men are indeed elite.
"Tell me, how does the Deer King usually fight, and what battle formations and tactics are used."
"Battle formations? This Deer King doesn't have any battle formations. Every time, he wears a large armor and leads the Japanese swordsman team to charge. Gunmen and archers can shoot freely, and the tactics at sea are similar. Japanese swordsmen can break into enemy ships, and archers and gunmen can shoot from a distance." "Without formations, how can the deer king command the battle?
"
"The armor he wears is the best command flag on the battlefield. As long as he rushes forward wearing the armor, the Japanese will know to follow." After listening to
Lin Mojun's description, Su Ze instead not worried.
Although the Japanese pirates under King Lu were well-equipped, they were backward in both military philosophy and quality. The reason why they were able to defeat the Ming army was because the Ming army was worse.
It can be said that Lu Dawang's group of Japanese pirates relied on personal bravery to fight. The use of bird guns was also in the stage of casual marksmanship, and the full power of the bird guns was not used.
The only person who is more difficult to deal with is the Deer King himself, who is wearing a large armor.
The Japanese country is now in the so-called "Warring States" era. During this "Warring States" era, the Japanese country realized the importance of weapons such as blunderbuss.
The Japanese country called fire guns iron cannons, and in the history of the Japanese country it was called "iron cannons coming from the east".
With the use of firearms, it also promoted the development of armor technology. The so-called "large enough armor" was the full-body armor produced during this period to defend against firearms.
The foundry technology of the Japanese country is actually far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty, but now the Ming Dynasty is taking the technical path of lightweight cotton armor.
In fact, cotton armor and steel helmets are precisely the ultimate direction of the firearms era. It is a pity that Ming Dynasty failed on the right path due to various problems.
Talking about Japanese armor, a set of armor that is both lightweight and defensive on the battlefield is expensive to make and needs to be customized by craftsmen. Ordinary soldiers of the Japanese country still fight with bamboo poles. Of course, only noble names are qualified. wear.
The fact that the Deer King has a set of large armor means that behind the Deer King, there is not only a Japanese pirate leader like Xu Feng, but also a close relationship with a certain warlord of the Japanese country.
After listening to Lin Mojun's description, Su Ze said confidently:
"Starting from tomorrow, if hundreds of households can trust me, the guards and the rest of the army will practice together every day." "
As long as you are willing to work hard and practice, Lu Dawang, a mere thousand I will destroy you!"
(End of this chapter)