The Royal Merchant of the Red Chamber

It was night, and the moon was as cool as water.

In the exquisite and extravagant tent, Xue Pan lay in front of the pear marble table with his chin in his hands, frowning and sighing bitterly.

The curtain at the entrance of the camp shook, and Lin Mozhi came wearing a green shirt with his hands behind his back.Seeing Xue Pan's embarrassed look under the moonlight, a smile appeared in his eyes.

"It's so late and you still don't rest, but there is something embarrassing and boring in your heart, which makes you toss and turn, and you can't sleep at night?"

Xue Pan raised his eyes to look at Lin Mozhi, and said sullenly: "I can hear a strong teasing from your voice."

Lin Mozhi smiled, walked to sit down opposite Xue Pan, and said softly, "Then would you like to chat with me now?"

Xue Pan curled his lips, and said: "Because of the fact that they just joined the army, the soldiers' training before focused on physical training, and although they practiced ammunition and artillery fire from time to time, they did not do it because of training funds. Targeted training. Now we have to practice with the soldiers of the Tiger Shark Battalion. If we only talk about physical fitness, our soldiers will not have the advantage."

"Since you know that you have no advantage, you agreed rashly during the day today. Such an emotional dispute is not something that a profiteer like you can do." Lin Mozhi said, reaching out to pat Xue Pan on the head.

Xue Pan curled his lips and said, "It's not that you didn't see the expressions and behaviors of our soldiers. If I really backed down today, I'm afraid they will lose face in the barracks in the future. Since there are unsatisfactory advances and retreats, it is better to fight with the bottom of the boat. One hand, even if you lose, you still have to show your momentum.”

Lin Mozhi raised his eyebrows, and asked softly, "What do you mean, you already have a charter?"

"That's right." Xue Pan nodded and said, "Although our soldiers are not as good as those animals in the Tiger Shark Battalion in terms of physical fitness alone, we are an artillery battalion. What we fight is artillery, not muscles. Compared with other navy troops Said, the soldiers of our artillery battalion are pretty good at firing guns and cannons."

The smile on Lin Mozhi's face froze slightly, and he said, "You don't mean to..."

Xue Pan nodded and said: "The soldiers of this artillery battalion must be fed with artillery fire and bullets. I plan to start tomorrow to strengthen the shooting practice of artillery and fire barrels for the soldiers of the whole battalion. They have their own skills. If you have a good foundation, you need to spend another month to strengthen your training, and you will be able to fight by then."

Lin Mozhi frowned and said, "But if you spend a month practicing live ammunition, you'll need at least 50 taels of silver."

Xue Pan raised his eyebrows, smiled arrogantly and said: "I don't care about money, I only care about whether the money can be heard after it is spent."

"But--"

Xue Pan waved his hand, interrupted Lin Mozhi, and said in a deep voice: "I have already reported to the Holy Lord, and it is not considered a private action. So Mo Zhier, you have to go out to the military camp with me tomorrow morning, 50 Ten thousand taels is not a small amount, and I can’t get it out for a while, so I have to go to Xuejiayin’s branch in Tianjinwei to exchange it. I went to Curry this afternoon to take stock, and the remaining ones in the camp are now The gunpowder is still enough for the soldiers to go all out for seven or eight days of training, and we still have to go to the capital to get the goods. Try to collect more artillery within a few days, and we must not interrupt the intensive training of the soldiers."

Lin Mozhi looked at Xue Pan who was resolute and resolute, and could only sigh helplessly.

The battle between the spirits of ordinary people is at best nothing more than the wrath of the common people, with five steps of blood spattering.When it comes to Xue Pan, it will cost money. 50 taels of silver, easy to say, is enough to feed the people of an ordinary county for a year.Now that Xue Pan is floating around like this, I can't even hear a sound——no, I can still hear it.From the continuous sound of ammunition explosions in the morning of the second day, Lin Mozhi, whose ears were ringing and his heart was pounding, once again confirmed that even a prodigal son like Xue Pan can lose victoriously and deafeningly.

……

Time flies, and the white horse passes by.A month flies by.It's like clear water flowing quietly between the fingers, unable to grasp a single crack.

On this day, not a single bird was heard in the usually noisy school grounds, all the soldiers of the camp stood silently in the field, except for the Artillery Battalion and the Tiger Shark Battalion.On the competition stage at the front, Xue Pan had ordered everyone to arrange a lot of tables and chairs according to the judging table of the later generations. The tall navy blue sunshade tent blocked the scorching sun. Xue Pan lay on the table with a bored face. The king of the county laughed softly and said: "Pan'er's situation is very confident. I think this month's cannon fire has been very effective! It's just that the cannon fire is really expensive, and the effort for a while is not worth mentioning." Five or six million taels of silver, right?"

Xue Pan glared at King Nan'an angrily, snorted twice and said, "I'm happy, can you control me?"

The king of Nan'an County smiled and said nothing, he fiddled with the long tube beside the table, moved his eyes to one end to look into the distance, and said after a while: "Didn't Pan'er say that you can see the scene thousands of miles away with this clairvoyance, but This king only feels a blur in front of his eyes, can't he see anything?"

After hearing the words, several other generals followed Nan'an County King's actions and picked up the clairvoyance on the table to look out. After a while, they shouted: "It's useless at all, the young master is teasing people again."

Xue Pan sneered twice, and said nonchalantly: "I'm really not teasing you, a bunch of bumpkins who have never seen the world, the reason why they can't see anything is because you have your clairvoyance upside down!"

When everyone heard the words, they quickly turned the clairvoyance in their hands upside down and looked into the distance, and they saw the scenery thousands of miles away as if they were right in front of them.Everyone startled and bluffed.Liu Wei fiddled with the things in his hands, and suddenly asked: "Such a rare gadget, surely the soldiers of the Artillery Battalion also have it?"

Xue Pan rolled his eyes and said, "Nonsense, is it possible that I still use him to watch the sky at night?"

Cheng Yuan pondered for a moment, then sighed softly: "Since this is the case, wouldn't the Tiger Shark Battalion have a panoramic view of the Artillery Battalion? This is too unfair."

All the generals were taken aback for a moment, and agreed again and again: "It's really unfair to think about it this way."

"This naval division fights by surprise and attacking its unpreparedness. If everything is under the nose of others, how can it fight?"

Xue Pan sneered and said: "Not only that, the soldiers of our artillery battalion with clairvoyance can also understand lip language, you better hope that the generals of the tiger shark battalion don't stand on the deck and talk, otherwise..."

Hearing this, everyone's face became terrified again.

As a navy general, it is natural to take the lead when the two armies are fighting, so as to boost morale to the greatest extent.But if Liu Wei really stood in front of the deck and commanded the battle, wouldn't all the orders be seen by the other party?

Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but gloomy, Liu Wei said: "This is too unfair. The Tiger Shark Camp should also be equipped with clairvoyance—"

"Why?" Xue Pan raised his eyebrows, and said lazily: "This clairvoyance was created by the master of Jianbao Pavilion under our Xue family. I can use it for whoever I want. Could it be that the enemy really attacked? When I come here, I have to equip the enemy with clairvoyance for the sake of fairness? Then should I share some of these artillery and ammunition with them?"

When everyone heard the words, they choked for a moment.

Xue Pan sneered again and said, "If it's fair, a group of veterans who have fought bloody battles for more than 20 years have to beg for nothing to compete with recruits like me who have only been in the army for more than half a year-this is what you call fair?"

Everyone blushed even more and refused to answer.

Xue Pan looked at the crowd with contempt, and said in a moderate voice: "Poor people just talk a lot of nonsense. They are arguing about this injustice and that injustice all day long. Knowing the benefits of being rich and rich, you have to work hard. You must know that there will always be people in this world. Those who work with their minds rule others, and those who work hard rule others. What's the use of sitting there every day and doing nothing, and being unconvinced? Why don't you say that you officials and lords who have tea and water sit here and watch the fun on a hot day? A group of soldiers have to act like monkeys risking their lives...how can no one say this is unfair?"

Everyone: "..."

Xue Pan snorted arrogantly, and stopped talking to everyone.

On the other side, the two parties in the topic are also ready.

The location for the exercise of the two battalions had already been selected two days before the competition, which was the seaside where the Tianjin Navy was stationed.It is remote and uninhabited for ten miles around, with solid walls and clear fields.Even if the two camps make a lot of noise.It will not disturb the innocent.

And the two sides in the battle were also decided under the lottery presided over by the King of Nan'an County.The Tiger Shark Battalion led by Liu Wei, as the attacker, had to break through the defense line of the defender by sea boat within the specified time and forcibly board the land to occupy the camp where the defender was located.As the defender, the artillery battalion headed by Lin Mozhi must repel the attacker while ensuring the safety of its own position.

The duration of the exercise is 36 hours, that is, three days and three nights.This time was synthesized by referring to the defense time of Nan'an County King several times against the attack of barbarian gunboats.Xue Pan naturally didn't take it seriously, but Liu Wei said that it would take twelve hours to take down the artillery battalion instead of three days.

For this kind of irresponsible bragging, Xue Pan just slightly hooked the corners of his mouth to express his disdain, and didn't even give him a look.What you say now is nonsense, let's see the real chapter after the exercise!

"After three days, I will let you huba know what a real soldier is. A huba is a huba. Even if you have a machine gun, you are still a group of hubas who can't help you!" Liu Wei sat in front of the school field, showing his white teeth. Said gloomyly.

Xue Pan blinked, and replied with unusual tenderness and anticipation: "In three days, I will wait for you to wash my socks."

Before the words fell, both of them looked at each other aggressively.

The arrow was on the string, the sword was on the verge, and the atmosphere suddenly became dignified.

On the coast ten kilometers away from Tianjin Wei Port, Song Yishan stood on the deck holding the clairvoyance that Xue Pan had made privately, watching for a long while, and could see nothing but the endless sea.The atmosphere is comfortable and beautiful, water birds soaring in the sky can often be seen flying by, the scorching sun hangs high above the line of water and sky, and the sea breeze blows coolly.

Qin Yue hugged his shoulders and asked coldly: "Did you see them?"

Song Yishan shook his head and said softly, "Nothing happened yet."

Lin Mozhi on the other side laughed softly: "Relax, although our physical fitness is not as good as the old fritters of the Tiger Shark Camp, the range of the artillery on our ship is 500 meters farther than theirs. What's more, you His Majesty selected the most powerful underwater fighters from all over the world, and Pan'er specially trained you for a month in firing cannons and artillery. Even if we don't fight them hand-to-hand, but just bombard them with artillery fire, we will surely win this battle undoubtedly."

When everyone heard the words, a touch of excitement flashed across their faces, and then their expressions became more serious.Even if they don't look at other things, they can't afford to lose this battle just for the 50 taels of silver that Xue Pan spent this month.Not only did they want everyone in the Navy to know that the soldiers of the Artillery Battalion were not useless, but the most important thing was to let Xue Pan see that they were worth more than they paid for. Thinking of this, everyone subconsciously frowned.After hanging around with Xue Pan for a long time, they also became philistine and vulgar.

While talking, I saw sea ships gradually appearing in the distance, Song Yishan quickly said: "Here we come."

Lin Mozhi immediately picked up his clairvoyance and looked ahead, only to see warships approaching quickly thousands of miles away.Everyone swallowed nervously, Lin Mozhi silently calculated the shooting range, and said in a deep voice: "Don't be nervous, everyone concentrate, and fire at a distance of [-] yards."

Song Yishan complied, and quickly passed on Lin Mozhi's order.Zhang Jian, standing in front of the artillery, swallowed his saliva, and began to silently calculate the distance of the battleships of the Tiger Shark Battalion.A thousand yards... nine hundred yards... eight hundred yards... seven hundred yards... six hundred yards...

"fire--"

"Boom boom boom..."

At the same time, Liu Xin, the leader standing on the battleship of the Tiger Shark Battalion, teased with contempt on his face: "What the hell, it's a waste of fire to fire at such a long distance!"

"Hey, the artillery battalion has stupid people and a lot of money. I'm afraid a group of recruits will panic when they see our figure and don't know what to do!"

"Whether he's scared to pee or not, I only know that our dirty clothes and socks will be washed in three days."

"Hahaha……"

Everyone laughed, and suddenly felt blurred in the next moment. The shells replaced with blue dye mixed with iron sand exploded one by one, and fell on the warship ahead. Only the deck and the side of the hull were more or less stained. Blue imprint.Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief, and they shouted, "How is this possible?"

With a gloomy face, Malu gritted his teeth and said: "Damn, according to the rules of the exercise, the power of the enemy's artillery may not be able to penetrate the deck, but all the people standing on the deck who were stained with fuel were scrapped. The boat is fucking paralyzed."

Everyone looked at each other, and Liu Xin lowered his face and said: "Notify all the helmsmen, do not approach the front in a straight line, and approach the enemy's gunboat with serpentine curves and irregular curves. Be sure to drive the warship safely and intact. The distance within ten feet is within our shooting range."

Ma Liu gritted his teeth and said angrily, "I'm going to steer the boat myself. With so many eyes on his face, if we lose to the recruits led by a group of dudes, we will die."

On the command ship of the Artillery Battalion, Song Yishan carefully sized up several people on the deck of the command ship of the Tiger Shark Battalion with his clairvoyance, and said after a while: "Report sir, the enemy leader is about to change his way of marching, and he needs to use a serpentine curve." Approaching our army with irregular curves."

After a pause, he continued: "The enemy corporal Malu will personally drive the command ship to approach us. Their range is within one hundred feet."

Malu, the helmsman with the most experience and the most military exploits in the Tiger Shark Battalion, if he steers the boat, I am afraid these recruits will not be able to beat them.

Lin Mozhi nodded, and said, "Give me an order, and all the gunners will fire in an arc, and the [-]-pound guns will fire in unison."

Everyone promised, and quickly opened fire on the enemy's warship.It was the first time for the artillery officers and soldiers to participate in an actual combat exercise, and their moods inevitably fluctuated too much, and their accuracy was also much worse.It is good to hit three or four out of ten shells.Even so, in this round of indiscriminate firing by the Artillery Battalion, six or seven warships of the Tiger Shark Battalion were scrapped.Liu Xin's teeth itch with hatred.

Hastily shouted: "Go roundabout, go roundabout. Be sure to reach a distance of less than one hundred feet."

On the deck of the artillery battalion commanding warship, Song Yishan shouted like a parrot: "Advance in a roundabout way, advance in a roundabout way. Be sure to reach a range of less than [-] feet."

Lin Mozhi chuckled twice, and suddenly said, "Tell the soldiers to rest."

The order was passed down, and the continuous artillery fire of the artillery battalion suddenly stopped.Even all the warships are slowly retreating.

Seeing this scene, the soldiers of the Tiger Shark Battalion immediately said excitedly: "Damn Xipi, their artillery fire seems to be over."

"I'll just say it. How can such a random shooting without rules go to the end. Brothers, charge for me—"

"Wait, beware of fraud."

Liu Xin rolled his eyes, and said, "Tell the light auxiliary warships in front to pass by first, to test the reality. If there is really a fraud, they will be light and fast, and they will come back easily."

Another general nodded and replied, "That's right. Although the artillery battalion's artillery has a long range, their skills are not good enough. They can't hit our ship at all. Half of the firepower was wasted."

Liu Xin pursed his lips and said, "Damn Xipi, if this is suitable for us, they will be beaten to death by now. What a... prodigal son!"

On the artillery battalion commander's warship, Song Yishan couldn't stop blushing after interpreting the conversation of the people opposite him.

Zhang Jian squatted behind the cannon and shouted loudly: "Get your bloody spirits up. During the practice, one by one is more energetic than the other. In real practice, one by one is more fucked up. Didn't you hear what they said?"

Everyone suddenly said yes.

Lin Mozhi said with a gentle smile: "Don't pay attention to them, just focus on listening to my orders. Pay attention to the range and accuracy."

The Tiger Shark Battalion's auxiliary warship moved forward tentatively for [-] yards, but the Artillery Battalion remained silent.When they continued to move forward, they saw a volley of [-]-yard artillery from the artillery battalion, forcing the six warships to be unable to move forward, and stopped a hundred feet away from the artillery battalion.

Liu Xin and the others' eyes lit up, and they said with a smile: "Sure enough, they don't have many artillery pieces. Hurry up, big guys. If they enter the range, we will rule the world."

The soldiers of the Tiger Shark Battalion suddenly took orders and hurried forward.

The reason why Lin Mozhi allowed the warships of the Tiger Shark Battalion to move forward was mainly because the soldiers of the Artillery Battalion were not accurate enough and wasted ammunition.And the previous artillery bombardment was just to let everyone see the advanced weapons of the artillery battalion.Now that the goal has been achieved, immediately lure the warships of the Tiger Shark Battalion to move forward.

When they reached about [-] feet, they ordered the soldiers to fire.Everyone within this range naturally had no pressure to shoot face-to-face, but for a moment, most of the warships in the Tiger Shark Battalion were paralyzed.Only the command warship driven by Malu himself remained.

And all the "surviving" soldiers of the Tiger Shark Battalion stepped into the water under Liu Xin's order, preparing to sneak into the artillery battalion's warship from the bottom of the water.

Song Yishan immediately turned his head and asked: "Their soldiers have already entered the water, should we follow?"

Lin Mozhi pondered for a moment, but did not speak.

Song Yishan said again: "Actually, although our soldiers are not as physically fit as the veterans of the Tiger Shark Battalion, we all grew up by the water. When it comes to fighting underwater, they may not be as strong as us."

Lin Mozhi shook his head, and said: "Now our artillery fire has the greatest advantage, there is no need to fight with them. You tell all the soldiers to prepare torches and guard around the warship. As long as you see the soldiers of the Tiger Shark Camp Then shoot over. Under the premise of grasping the advantage, we don't need to beat others' weaknesses with our own strengths."

Song Yishan nodded in agreement, and immediately passed down the order.Except for the soldiers guarding in front of the artillery, the rest of the soldiers immediately went to the surrounding area of ​​the warship with torches, and carefully looked at the calm sea.

After a while, black heads floated to the surface of the water. Liu Mingyi gave a soft "Bah" twice, and said disdainfully, "I dare to show off with such a little ability. If the soldiers of our battalion go into the water, they can hold their breath for at least a quarter of an hour!"

Wang Chong immediately said with a smile: "It's all thanks to the two big brothers, Zhaocai and Jinbao. I still remember that they pressed your head tightly and didn't let you come out for a breath! By the way, you didn't miss it at the time." Drink water!"

"Bah! You only saw me drinking water with my head pressed down, and I still remember your face being bruised and swollen by them." Liu Mingyi said, and said, "Young master often said, don't be fifty Let's make a bet between the two of us, with so many people, how about we compare whose marksmanship is more accurate?"

Wang Chong chuckled lightly and said, "I'm afraid of you?"

After speaking, he pointed at a head on the water and hooked his fingers. After the gunshot, the blue dye exploded on that head immediately.It is in harmony with the blue sea water.

Liu Mingyi glanced at Wang Chong and hooked his fingers.I saw another head turned blue.

Seeing this, the rest of the people immediately began to "roll the roll".In a short while, the heads floating on the sea were covered with dye.However, the red dye fired by the Tiger Shark Battalion was basically avoided.

Seeing this scene, Lin Mozhi admired Xue Pan's methods even more.After all, most of the soldiers in the Artillery Battalion are recruits. Due to the short training time, in terms of physical fitness, they are naturally not as good as the old fritters in the Tiger Shark Battalion.Therefore, during the one-month intensive training, Xue Pan focused on recruiting money and making treasures to train the soldiers to avoid ammunition and use insidious tricks behind their backs to survive.Now it seems that it has paid off.

In the center of the school field, all the generals held clairvoyance to see the battle ahead.Xue Pan raised his eyebrows in a good mood, and said to Liu Wei: "Haha, it looks like I'm going to start collecting dirty clothes. I just hope that Liu Qianshi will be more careful when doing my laundry. My clothes are all dirty clothes. The fire brocade of Yunjin and Shujin, one piece can be worth half a year’s military pay for you. If it’s damaged, you won’t be able to afford it!”

Liu Wei's face was pale at this moment, he gave Xue Pan a vicious look, and said in a rough voice: "I am a rough person by nature, if Xue Pan is worried that I can't wash your clothes well, don't let me do it."

Xue Pan shook his head, and said tut-tsk in his mouth: "Don't Liu Qianshi know how to bet and admit defeat, don't look like you can't afford to lose, it really hurts your wise image."

Liu Wei snorted twice, and said, "Why are you willing to gamble and admit defeat? Your artillery battalion relies on the sharpness of your artillery. If such weapons were equipped with our tiger shark battalion, you would have been out of the pot long ago. How can you be like you?" This group of trash...will not use anything good."

"Even if you are envious and jealous, it's useless. If you have the guts, you can pay to replace weapons. No one is stopping you." Xue Pan casually glanced at Nan'an County King and said, "If you don't The money is also like the king of Nan'an County. If you find someone who is taken advantage of and pays the money for you, it will be over. But you have to be careful, don't have bad intentions when you ask foreign aid for funding. ?”

The king of Nan'an County looked at Xue Pan expressionlessly.

Xue Pan raised his eyebrows and looked back with dissatisfaction.

The king of Nan'an County said, "Young Lord is really suspicious. It was approved by His Majesty's imperial pen to come to the Tianjin Navy to train new recruits. With the love of His Majesty, how could he be willing to be tricked by others?" Woolen cloth?"

The king of Nan'an successfully shifted everyone's attention to Xue Pan with a pun.

Xue Pan looked at everyone indifferently, and said: "That's because the sage understands Xue Pan's character, and the most important thing is to compare pennies and vengeance. If anyone wants to plot against me, I will naturally plot them back. Don't say your wish at that time." It can’t be achieved, if I can’t get someone to accompany my wife and break the army, if I have trouble and can’t say it, my life, Xue Pan, will be in vain.”

Before he could finish a sentence, he suddenly heard artillery fire in the distance, and within a moment, the deafening shouts of the soldiers of the artillery battalion spread throughout the sky.

Xue Pan said with a relaxed face: "Oh, the soldiers of the Tiger Shark Battalion are really fragile. I also set up [-] red cannons near the port. I guess they won't be needed. But the battle is over. That's okay, it won't take two or three days, and everyone will be bored."

With that said, he got up and stepped off the stage, and Shi Shiran walked towards the pier.