Chapter 531 A coincidence that is not a coincidence

What else could Zhang Ruifu say, he could only agree repeatedly and hurriedly wrote to Wang Lu.

After he left, Yang Zhengshan looked at Zheng Yang from the Ministry of Household Affairs again, "Money and food, the silver money costs one million taels, and the food costs one hundred thousand shi!"

"Ah!" Zheng Yang was stunned, "Master Marquis, didn't we bring 300,000 silver coins and 50,000 stones of food and grass when we came?"

Yang Zhengshan's face turned a little dark, "Then look at what Zhaowuwei has. Doesn't it cost money to build camps and ports? Don't so many civilians not eat?"

"Fifty thousand stones of grain and grass were originally used for training by the soldiers, but as you know the current situation, this amount of grain and grass won't last long at all!"

Originally, the money and granaries provided by the Ministry of Revenue were only sufficient for the training needs of the Sihai navy. Even if there was a shortage, the grain in the official warehouses could be used nearby.

But now Yang Zhengshan used the method of spreading money in order to build camps and ports as soon as possible, and this little money and food was simply not enough.

"This!" Zheng Yang was about to cry, "Master Hou, the Ministry of Household Affairs does not have so much money and food!"

"This is not something I should consider, but something your household department should consider!" Yang Zhengshan said dissatisfied.

How come the Ministry of Accounts has no money?

The Imperial Commercial Department can provide millions of taels of silver to the Ministry of Revenue every year. He only wants one million taels, and there is no way that the Ministry of Revenue cannot afford it.

If the Ministry of Revenue cannot come up with it, then Yang Zhengshan has reason to suspect that officials from the Ministry of Revenue have embezzled money and food from the treasury.

Now is different from before. In the past, whether he was in Tenglong Guard or Chongshan Town, he was mostly self-sufficient in money and food. But in Zhaowu Guard, he could not be self-sufficient at all, and there was not enough time for him to develop slowly. He could only let The Ministry of Household Affairs provides money and food.

Zheng Yang did not dare to refute Yang Zhengshan, so he could only agree to the matter.

After leaving the matters of soldiers, money and food to Zhang Ruifu and Zheng Yang, Yang Zhengshan focused his energy on the training of the soldiers.

It just so happened that he brought a hundred guards who could serve as instructors for the soldiers. At the same time, Yang Chengye and Yang Chengmao were also thrown into the military camp to serve as instructors.

Outside the camp on the coast, five thousand soldiers were divided into hundreds of small square formations and were receiving training from the guards.

There is no need to say much about the basic training methods of the Yang family. The main training content is formation and physical training. The guards have long been familiar with the specific training methods, and Yang Zhengshan does not need to worry at all.

What Yang Zhengshan has to do is provide spiritual spring water.

For several days, Yang Zhengshan was either running around the temporary school grounds or between the camp and the port.

The time soon came to the tenth day of October. October in the southeastern sea was still very hot. Even above the sea, it was uncomfortably hot.

However, starting from October, the wind direction in the southeastern sea will change from the southwest monsoon to the northeast monsoon.

Yu Tonghai led the Tenglong Navy and took three days to sail against the wind to Dongyang Island.

When they arrived near Dongyang Island, Dongyang Island immediately became a mess.

The geographical location of Dongyang Island is very important. For Dihuo Island, Dongyang Island is also an extremely important source of wealth.

There are no specialties on Dongyang Island, but it is an important supply place for fleets traveling from east to west. The small towns and markets on the island are places for passing ships to dock and rest.

Dihuo Island is not an ordinary pirate. Although they sometimes do some plundering, they are extremely disciplined on Dongyang Island. After all, Dongyang Island is a continuous and stable source of wealth for them.

At this time, in a beautifully decorated courtyard on Dongyang Island, Ju Ming, the steward of Dihuo Island on Dongyang Island, was sitting under the shade of a tree, drinking tea leisurely.

Dihuo Island is different from Xingyue Sect. Xingyue Sect is more like a sect force, while Dihuo Island is a family force.

Dihuo Island is the exclusive territory of the Zhu family, and all the industries on Dihuo Island are also the Zhu family's properties.

However, Ju Ming is not from the Zhu family, he is just a servant of the Zhu family, a son of the family who was trained by the Zhu family.

Ju Ming is in his forties. Although he is a slave of the Zhu family, he is highly valued by the masters of the Zhu family because of his outstanding cultivation and abilities. As the steward of Dongyang Island, his young life is also very nourishing.

But this guy likes to be arty the most. He is obviously a warrior, but he likes music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and he especially likes tea ceremony.

He was sitting in the shade of a tree making tea leisurely. At this moment, a follower hurried over.

"My lord, something is wrong!" the attendant shouted.

"Shut up!"

Hearing the call from his entourage, Ju Ming scolded him dissatisfiedly.

This attendant disturbed him from making tea.

The entourage hurriedly silenced, and Zhu Ming did not care about what urgent matter the entourage had, and continued to make tea calmly until a bowl of tea was brewed. He took a brief sip and then said: "What happened!"

The attendant held it in for a long time and finally got a chance to speak. He spoke very quickly: "Sir, a large number of warships have appeared on the sea, and they seem to be heading for us!"

"What!" Ju Ming was shocked and stood up. "How many warships are there?"

"There are hundreds of ships, including two big fortune ships!" the attendant said.

Ju Ming shuddered violently and kicked the follower over, "Fuck, why didn't you tell me earlier!"

"..."

The follower was kicked more than ten feet away by him, but he was also a warrior, so he was not seriously injured, but he was a little bit hurt, and he was also a little breathless.

Damn it, didn’t you, an idiot, tell me to shut up?

Zhu Ming ignored the murmurings in his followers' hearts and hurried towards the dock.

When he arrived at the dock of the town, he saw warships of all sizes floating on the sea.

Warships, not merchant ships!

Under the bright sunshine, the sharp arrows flashed with a cold light.

Even from a long distance, he could see the shining crossbows.

"Crossbows! A lot of crossbows!"

"Is this the navy of Dayong?"

Zhu Ming only took a glance and guessed where these warships came from.

Large crossbows are not unique to Dayong, but in the entire southeastern sea area, only Dayong has the ability to equip a fleet with so many crossbows.

"What's going on?" He asked the panicked sailors next to him.

"Sir, we don't know either!" A group of sailors said with pale faces.

Zhu Ming took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

What did Dayong come to Dongyang Island for?

Attack Dongyang Island?

It shouldn't be!

Their Dihuo Island didn't provoke Dongyang Island!

"It's not for Dongyang Island, but for the route!"

In just a moment, he figured out the key.

He had also heard about Dayong's plan to attack Xingyue Island, and he also knew that Dayong was gathering navy in Zhaowuwei. He originally thought that this matter had nothing to do with their Dihuo Island, but now it seems that their Dihuo Island will also be implicated.

"Come on, send a small boat over to ask!"

As soon as Zhu Ming finished speaking, he saw a small boat approaching the dock, "Forget it, someone from the other side is coming!"

Seeing a small boat coming, he was no longer so panicked, but felt a lot more at ease.

A small boat coming means there is room for negotiation.

Xue Ping took a small boat to the dock of Dongyang Island. He looked at the vigilant sailors on the dock and grinned and shouted: "Darong Tenglong Vanguard Commander Xue Ping is here to ask to see the manager of Dongyang Island. Please pass on the message!"

"I am the manager of Dongyang Island. What do you want?" Zhu Ming replied quickly.

Xue Ping also saw Zhu Ming, clasped his fists and shouted, "We need to patrol near Dongyang Island in the near future. I hope you can help us!"

"Patrol?" Zhu Ming's mind moved slightly, "No, you are here to affect our business!"

He didn't want to cause trouble, and Dihuo Island didn't want to get involved in the battle between Darong and Xingyuemen.

His idea was very simple, that is, to maintain a neutral attitude, that is, not to help Darong or Xingyuemen.

Xue Ping looked at him and shouted, "Sir, it's convenient for others and for yourself. If you give us a favor today, we will also give you a favor in the future!"

Zhu Ming was a little panicked at first, but now he has calmed down.

In his opinion, since Darong has already started a war with Xingyuemen, it should not go to war with Dihuo Island.

"This Dongyang Island is our Dihuo Island's territory. It's better for you to retreat as soon as possible! As long as you retreat, I will pretend that what happened today never happened!"

Xue Ping frowned. This manager is a bit stubborn!

I've said it's just a convenience, but this guy still refuses.

Yang Zhengshan didn't say he wanted to occupy Dongyang Island, and he and Yu Tonghai didn't think of provoking Dongyang Island, but if they want to patrol here, they must have a place to rest, they can't just float on the sea all the time!

Just when Xue Ping was about to persuade him again, a dull horn sounded in the distance.

Woo woo woo~~

The horn sounded with a long tail, Xue Ping was startled, and hurriedly looked behind.

This is an order to prepare for battle!

No, didn't Lord Yu say that he should come over to persuade first?

He hasn't gone back yet, why is he going to attack?

Hearing the horn, Zhu Ming also became nervous. Although he didn't know Darong's order, he felt that this was definitely not a good thing.

"What do you mean?" He asked sternly.

Xue Ping ignored him and took out a telescope to look in the direction of the Dafu ship. He soon found something wrong because the flag on the Dafu ship was a clear order to attack, but the direction of attack was not Dongyang Island, but the east.

Then he looked towards the east and saw a series of black shadows in the telescope. The distance was too far and it was not very clear, but it was certain that they were ships.

"It can't be such a coincidence!"

"Turn around and go back!"

Xue Ping hurriedly ordered the soldiers who were with him.

Yes, it was such a coincidence that the ship coming from the east was the ship of Xingyuemen, which was the two of the four flag armies of Xingyuemen, the New Moon Flag Army and the Upper String Flag Army.

The two flag armies came in a mighty force and were about to go to Songhefu to plunder Songhefu City.

It was really a coincidence that the two sides met unexpectedly on Dongyang Island.

Of course, this is not entirely a coincidence. Yang Zhengshan asked the Tenglong Vanguard to come to Dongyang Island because the Secret Guard said that the Crescent Flag Army and the Upper String Flag Army had unusual movements. Now that the Crescent Flag Army and the Upper String Flag Army have come to Dongyang Island, it just proves that the intelligence provided by the Secret Guard is accurate.

On the Dafu ship, Yu Tonghai looked at the increasingly clear enemy ships with a telescope, and a bright smile appeared on his face.

"Hahaha, good to come! Good to come!"

He did not expect the battle to come so quickly. To be honest, he was not ready for the battle.

But since someone came to the door, he did not mind swallowing the other party.

"Report, the enemy has two Dafu ships, ten Haicang ships, and more than 300 small ships!"

"Report, the enemy's Dafu ship was converted from a merchant ship, and the mast is only three feet high!"

"Report, the enemy has discovered our army and is stopping its advance!"

The general situation of the enemy army has been presented in Yu Tonghai's mind as reports came one after another.

In terms of the number of warships, the enemy army has many more than Tenglong Vanguard, but most of the enemy ships are small ships, and there are only ten medium-sized Haicang ships.

The most important thing is that the enemy's Dafu ships are converted from merchant ships. Although warships and merchant ships are both Dafu ships, there are great differences between the two.

For example, Dayong's No. 1 Dafu ship has a mast of 48 feet high, a larger sail, and a faster sailing speed. The most important thing is the crossbow. Merchant ships may also have crossbows, but they are far inferior to the crossbows on warships. Whether it is the number of crossbows or the range and power, they are far inferior to warships.

Here we have to talk about Dayong's shipbuilding technology and crossbow technology. Among the many forces in the southeastern sea area, Dayong's shipbuilding technology and crossbow technology are definitely the most powerful.

Even most of the forces in the southeastern sea area cannot manufacture Dafu ships, but can only manufacture small and medium-sized ships. Only the Lu Sheng Dynasty can manufacture Dafu ships, but the Dafu ships of the Lu Sheng Dynasty are far inferior to Dayong's Dafu ships.

Most of the ships of the forces in the southeastern sea area are merchant ships that were robbed, so most of their warships are also converted from merchant ships.

At this time, Yu Tonghai was full of excitement, but Li Chengzhang and Wang Mingjian on the opposite side were full of depression.

They were full of ambition when they set out to sea from their respective bases. They went to Songhe Prefecture to plunder. Such a good thing was definitely very rare for them. For this reason, the two of them had to fight with Han Changshun and Cheng Wuji for a long time before they got this task.

But they never expected that they would run into the navy of Darong not long after they went out.

"What should we do?" Li Chengzhang looked at Wang Mingjian beside him and asked.

Wang Mingjian's face was a little distorted, as if he had swallowed a fly.

"Fight or not?" Li Chengzhang asked again.

Wang Mingjian felt the wind direction, "We are in the upwind, we can try!"

They were not completely in the upwind. Today, the wind was blowing from the northeast, and the wind was not very strong, but compared with the Tenglong navy on the opposite side, they did have a little advantage in the wind direction.

"Then try it. If the situation is not right, retreat immediately!" Li Chengzhang felt that it was a bit embarrassing to run now, so he planned to fight a battle first to see the situation.

However, they seemed to have underestimated the Tenglong Navy. When they were about to send the vanguard fleet to fight, Yu Tonghai had already ordered the fleet to disperse.

If you look down from the air, you will find that the Tenglong Navy, which had originally gathered together, has now been divided into three teams, one team sailing to the northeast, one team sailing to the southeast, and the main warships are heading straight for the enemy ships in the east.

The warships sailing north are to occupy the upwind. The so-called upwind does not necessarily have to be consistent with the wind direction, but depends on the angle between the wind direction and the sail.

In fact, sailboats can also sail against the wind, but they need to adjust the hull and sails at the same time to turn the headwind into a side wind. After the wind direction changes to a side wind, the ship can start, but the ship's direction has deviated from the target direction, so after sailing for a distance, the ship needs to adjust the ship's direction and sails again to make it travel along a zigzag route. This method of sailing is called "wind-grabbing sailing."

Taking advantage of the crosswind is a simple task for the soldiers of the Tenglong Navy.