Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 591 The mantis stalks the cicada and the oriole follows behind
In the offshore waters of Nanzhili, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, there seem to be quite a lot of people going out to sea to fish in recent days.

At this time, if there are merchant ships traveling north or south, from Songjiang Prefecture to Xiaoliuqiu in the south, you can see that every few meters there will be several or even dozens of large and small fishing boats casting nets to catch fish on the sea.

Ever since the method of making ice from saltpeter spread, and as the people of the country became increasingly wealthy, the demand for seafood has become increasingly greater.

Therefore, the fish caught in the coastal waters is no longer enough to satisfy the appetite of the people. Going out to sea to fish has become a new way for the people along the coast to get rich.

"Boss, we have news that a fleet of more than ten large and small ships was discovered in the sea east of Songmenwei. It should be the fleet where Lord She is."

slap~
The middle-aged man at the stern of the boat was still clumsily casting the fishing net, but upon hearing the news, he immediately threw the fishing net away and grinned.

"Damn it, after waiting for so many days, we are finally getting there. Tell the brothers to keep a close eye on the movements of this fleet, spread out the people, hide well, and never reveal any flaws. Remember, we are no longer the entourage of the princess's mansion, we are fishermen!"

The person who came to report twitched his lips for a while, and couldn't help but complain: "Boss, a fisherman who speaks Beijing Mandarin, someone has to believe it!"

At this time, there were at least more than a thousand followers of the princess's mansion scattered on the sea from Songjiang to Xiaoliuqiu. They were being led by the people arranged by the Gusu Lin family. They were pretending to be fishermen on the sea and closely watching the movements on the sea.

This group of "fishermen" who spoke Beijing's official language had been under the surveillance of the "fishermen" ever since Ji Chengming's fleet left the dock.

The princess' orders must be carried out perfectly and without compromise by the servants of the princess's mansion.

"Hide yourselves well, as soon as we get any news from Lord She, we will rush over immediately. Under the premise of ensuring Lord She's safety, we will wipe out all the enemies!"

……

"Oh, they are indeed a bunch of low-class people. To earn a few copper coins, they actually went fishing in such a far place..."

The sudden appearance of a large number of fishing boats on the sea did not arouse the vigilance of the Maitreya believers. Instead, they took it for granted that these fishermen were trying to catch more seafood in order to earn more money.

There is no way to make money from fishing as quickly as from plundering.

Fishing boats could be seen floating near the fleet in groups of three or four at a distance. After a few days, Ji Chengming was no longer surprised and even sent a small boat over to buy a big turtle from the "fishermen" to entertain Master She.

"The general is the Third Grandmother's man, and the leader is the Fifth Master of the Changzhou Lin Clan, Lin Ao."

"Lin Ao? This old guy actually came in person. It seems that they take this operation very seriously."

Lin Ao's real name is Lin Zhan, and he is of the same generation as Lin Ruhai.

He was respectfully called Lin Ao because he could tear a mastiff apart with his bare hands. Unlike his cousin Lin Ruhai who studied for the imperial examinations, he originally served in the army, but was later suppressed by the Zhen family. He left the army and set up his own escort agency, doing a business that made money by taking risks.

After the imperial court opened the sea, Lin Ao and several major families in Suzhou formed a larger maritime escort agency specifically to escort merchant ships going out to sea.

When Daiyu's letter for help was delivered to the old house in Gusu, Lin Ao personally led his trusted men to secretly go out to sea, and together with the princess's entourage, he spread spies all over the southeast coast.

Master She smiled proudly at Jia Jiu and said, "See, I told you that nothing would go wrong this time. Even if the Songjiang navy can't get there in time, as long as Yu'er makes the arrangements, we can definitely take down Ji Chengming."

Jia Jiu rolled his eyes implicitly, and after praising him a few times, he turned the topic to Ji Chengming.

"Oh, yes, yes, Third Grandma is a master of foresight, she is the female Zhuge Liang of our Jia family... But General, where do you think Ji Chengming is going to take us? We have been drifting on the sea for more than ten days, and the brothers are used to vomiting, but we have not seen the pirates he mentioned."

"It doesn't matter. Even if there are no pirates, Ji Chengming will find them for us. He also wants me to have fun and join him in the fun."

Master She saw through it clearly and knew that Ji Chengming was determined to drag him into the trap.

Pirates?

There is a bunch of pirates off the coast of our country. Do they really think that the imperial navy’s ships are weak and their guns are ineffective?
I guess this guy already had a plan and a target...

dong dong dong~
"General, Mr. Ji is here."

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. The guard's report came from outside the cabin, and Master She stopped his discussion with Jia Jiu at that moment.

Ji Chengming entered the cabin, and his previously slightly hypocritical flattery now became as familiar as that of old friends.

"Sir, are you interested in playing with the cannon today?"

"Oh? Did you find the pirates? Or did you find any traces of the Western Barbarians?"

Master She's face immediately showed an excited expression, and he clapped his hands in surprise in response.

Sure enough, this expression made Ji Chengming very pleased.

"As expected of you, Lord She, you guessed it right. There are several islands thirty miles ahead, and on the islands are the pirates who are rampant in the sea off Songmen. They took advantage of the geographical location and robbed my merchant ships many times..."

He cupped his hands and sighed, "Even if the imperial navy came to suppress the bandits, they couldn't wipe them out completely. I only hope Lord She can avenge me and command the army to wipe out this cunning pirate group!"

Even dogs don’t believe this!

However, at this time, Master She had to maintain his image of a "ridiculous old dandy", so he naturally could not sneer at this guy's hypocrisy.

On the contrary, Master She patted his chest excitedly and said with a big smile: "Don't worry, Old Ji, with Marquis Jia En here, even the most cunning pirates will have to clean their necks and wait obediently!"

……

There are several islands of various sizes in the open sea to the northeast of Songmenwei.

On one of the pirate mountains, called Sanmu Mountain, there were more than a thousand islanders living at this time.

These islanders, who came from the White Lotus Sect, fled to the sea after being defeated by the imperial army in Shandong. They fought the Japanese pirates for several years, and were finally surrounded and suppressed by the Western Barbarians and the imperial navy. Eventually, they fled southward and lived in seclusion on islands far away from the mainland.

Fortunately, this island was large enough to accommodate more than a thousand bandits who were struggling to survive. With the prosperity of maritime trade and the advantages of geographical location, they plundered small Western ships and slowly restored some strength.

The reason why they dared to compete with Ji Chengming's Maitreya Sect for the leadership of the Holy Church was because they had accumulated more than ten armed ships of the Western Barbarians by plundering the Western Barbarians in the past two years, and they thought they had the strength to suppress the Maitreya Sect.

In early winter, heavy fog is likely to appear on the sea surface every morning.

Under Ji Chengming's instructions, the command of the fleet seemed to be taken over by Master She, but in fact it was all being carried out according to the plan he had drawn up.

The fleet quietly approached Sanmushan Island. From afar, they could see ships docked by the island and the dim lights on the ships.

"All troops, get ready. Push out the artillery and aim at those ships. Cut off their retreat first, then march ashore and attack!"

Naval warfare may be different from land warfare, but the overall strategy does not change much.

Cutting off the enemy's retreat first to prevent escape is the most commonly used and practical strategy in annihilation warfare.

Neither Ji Chengming's men nor Master She's own men in the fleet disobeyed the military order.

The gun's gun cover was lifted, and the black gun barrel pointed towards the lights ahead in the fog.

"Forward three, row as hard as you can for me. Line up in a line when you're 500 steps ahead, and bomb indiscriminately!"

A red color appeared on Master She's face. In Ji Chengming's opinion, the more excited Jia She was, the more satisfied he would be with his arrangements.

"The more satisfied you are, the better. Once you're on my boat, don't even think about getting off!"

"Ah? Old Ji, what did you say?"

The quiet murmurs were drowned out by the noisy environment. Ji Chengming laughed and said to Master She, "Nothing. I was just feeling very moved that I could actually witness the battle commanded by Duke Rong. It was so exciting, so exciting!"

This compliment seemed to have touched Master She's sore spot, making him laugh out loud.

He drew the ceremonial sword from his waist and grinned, "You weak scholar, hide well, and wait and see how I will wipe out this group of pirates and avenge you!"

Regardless of whether this group of "pirates" was real or not, and regardless of what Master She's plan was for going out to sea this time, Master She did not make any compromises in the battle command and performed his duties conscientiously.

The battle was almost one-sided. After blasting the ships docked by the island into pieces, Jia Jiu quietly released three falcons while no one was paying attention.

……

Lin Ao had been staying in the small fishing boat for several days. The sea was still quite cold in early winter, but fortunately there was a stove on the boat for heating, so he, the fifth master of the Lin family, was not frozen silly.

"Boss, Lord She sent a message that they are at Sanmu Mountain, and asked us to go there quickly..."

Hmm? Sanmu Mountain?
Lin Ao is also a ruthless man who makes a living on the sea, and he is very familiar with what is happening on the southeast sea.

"That's the territory of the remnants of the White Lotus Sect. What is he doing there?"

Lin Ao took the note from his men, on which were two lines of small words: "Hurry to Sanmu Mountain, the water is already boiling, waiting for the fish to be put into the pot!"

"Damn it, this Marquis Jia En didn't even know to send a message in advance... Don't sleep, get up quickly, change to the big boat, and go drink fish soup!"

At the same time, in the sea north of Sanmu Mountain, the Songjiang Navy also received Jia She's flying eagle letter.

Unfortunately, because the Songjiang Navy was too large, they were afraid of attracting Ji Chengming's attention and did not dare to follow too closely.

Even with the information shared by Lin Ao, it would most likely be too late.

The remnants of the White Lotus Sect on the island never imagined that someone would take the initiative to attack their "bandit group".

When the roar of the cannons awakened the sleeping White Lotus followers, they did not realize they were under attack.

By the time people woke up completely, the ships docked on the shore had turned into debris.

The roar on the sea continued. After smashing the ships, countless shells hit the thatched houses on the shore one by one.

The fire was spreading, and the remnants of the White Lotus Sect suffered heavy casualties in just one round of artillery bombardment.

"The army is on shore, wipe out all the bandits!"

woohoo~
Unlike the men under Ji Chengming, the thousand men brought by Master She formed a square formation, with Jia She himself as the spearhead, and rushed towards the "pirates" who were resisting stubbornly.

"The white lotus descends to the earth, and the people rise up..."

"Hometown of the Vacuum, Mother of No Birth, the Advent of the Saint, the Rebirth of the White Lotus..."

The slogan that suddenly came out of the flames made Jia Jiu shudder. He shouted excitedly: "General, it's the White Lotus Sect!"

Jia Jiu was very familiar with the White Lotus Sect, a perverse sect that would rebel against whoever became emperor.

It can be said that the grievances and hatred between the Ningrong Jia family and the White Lotus Sect have existed since the founding of the country.

Especially in the winter of the 49th year of Zhaowu, it was because of the White Lotus Sect that the Jia family was in danger of extinction for the first time.

Therefore, the slogan of the White Lotus Sect is not only a "stimulant" for this group of bandits, but also a "stimulant" for the Jia family.

Master She naturally also heard the slogans shouted by the enemy on the opposite side. He chopped down the "fire man" rushing towards him with a knife, licked his lips and laughed.

"It is a gift from heaven. Today we have to settle old scores together. White Lotus Monster, I will see where you can escape this time!"

I'm not afraid of the White Lotus Sect's large numbers, I'm just afraid that these rats will run away when they see the situation is not good.

Master She tried to encircle and annihilate the White Lotus Sect several times in the past, but in the end he was unable to do so because they escaped too fast.

This time, it’s an island.

The ship was blown into pieces by themselves, where can they escape?
"He's a lackey of the imperial court!"

"Why would someone from the imperial court come to this godforsaken place?"

The White Lotus "Saint" who was directing the battle from a distance bit her lips tightly, her eyes full of panic.

She saw a figure hiding behind the soldiers from afar. As the fog dissipated, she could see the man's face clearly.

"It's Ji Chengming, he surrendered to the imperial court!"

It seemed that the truth had been discovered. When there was no way to retreat, the officers and soldiers were no longer the primary target of attack by the White Lotus Sect.

Under the instruction of Lord She, the officers and soldiers who were originally very effective suddenly became weak in the legs and feet, and the knives they were waving seemed to become limp.

The defense line in front of Ji Chengming and others was accidentally breached by the White Lotus Sect...

……

The sounds of fighting on the island drifted far into Lin Ao's ears. Boats of all sizes were gradually approaching the fleet docked outside the island in a fan shape.

"Don't let anyone find out. The Water Ghost Team will set off first and take control of as many ships as possible. The rest of you should get ready for battle. It would be best if we can seize all the dozen ships intact."

Damn, Ji Chengming was really willing to spend all his money to form a fleet of such a large scale.

Once he gets hold of this fleet, Lin Ao will be able to expand his business to the West!

Jia Shiliu, who stayed on the "flagship", watched the battle on the shore from afar with a telescope. Suddenly, his brothers came to report quietly that the Lin family's ship had arrived.

He immediately gave a wink, and more than a dozen Jia family soldiers began to act according to the plan, carefully touching the key position of the ship.

"Eh? Why is Brother Goudan here at this time?"

"I am here to treat my elder brother to a drink while my general is away."

As he spoke, Jia Goudan approached the old man with a horn hanging on his waist. While handing him the wine jug, he pulled out the dagger hanging on his waist with his other hand.

puff~
Apart from the almost inaudible sound of wiping the neck, Jia Goudan slowly put down the lifeless old man...

My Jia family wants this boat!

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

　That’s all for today, continue tomorrow.

　　I have to go to the hospital every morning these days, so the updates will be a little late, but I will not stop updating. I hope you can understand.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)