In the Fujian Mansion across the sea from Dayuan Island, in the Fujian Governor's Mansion in Fuzhou, two officials are sitting together behind closed doors drinking tea and chatting.

Sitting at the top was a middle-aged Confucian man in his forties and fifties, with a red face and a majestic face. At this time, although the Confucian was dressed in civilian clothes, just from his face and his demeanor, it could be seen that he was a person in a high position.

On the chair near the left of his head, an old man with a gray head with a shimmering face and a faint clear line was sitting on his lap, like a straight green pine, without the fatigue of an old man.

"Brother Shihong, I heard that the sea is not very peaceful recently?" The middle-aged man at the top held a delicate blue and white tea cup in one hand, stroked the lid of the tea cup with one hand and gently plucked the tea in the cup a few times.

"Lord Futai is well-informed, some time ago, the East China Sea area was indeed cloudy and rainy, but now it has long been calm." The next old man named Shihong had a calm face and replied calmly to the middle-aged man's interrogation.

"Oh?" Unexpectedly, this person with a majestic face is now the highest governor in charge of thousands of miles in Fujian, the governor of Fujian.

"Since June and July last year, Yuan Laoba and his gang of Dahai Kou, who had ravaged my southeast coast, have been entangled with a group of rising people named Hongtang, and finally fought hard. By the end of August last year, Yuan thieves gathered a group of more than 5,000 sea bandits, more than 50 sea ships, and brazenly sent troops to force the lair of Hongtang and others. With a few words in the old man's mouth, he told the story of what happened half a year ago from the beginning.

"What, Yuan Thief's momentum is so far?" Futai was shocked.

"Xia Guan never thought that Yuan Thief's power was already so huge, but fortunately, now he is a passing moment, and he is no longer our henchman!" The old man was already calm, and spoke slowly.

"What's the explanation?"

"By the middle of September, Yuan thieves 5,000 bandits, and more than 50 warships, were defeated by a nameless gang, and when they got the traces of Yuan thieves again, the Yuan thieves and bandits had already been defeated, and even Yuan thieves themselves fled with more than 10 wrecked ships and returned to their own nests."

After ten days, the offensive and defensive momentum turned around, and before Yuan Thief collected the defeated army, Hong Tang and his gang had already led the team to attack the vicinity of Yuan Thief's lair and besieged him in the lair. It was not until this time that the officials learned that it turned out that Hongtang and his gang were inextricably linked with the Qiongzhou Shark Bandits, and half of the team that attacked Yuan Thief at that time were all Sharks. ”

"However, the following officials understand that although the Qiongzhou Wild Shark Pirates dominate one side, they don't actually belong to too many people, so most of these centaurs must also be crazy sharks pouring out of the nest, which means that it is self-evident."

In the end, within a few days, Yuan and his gang who were trapped on the isolated island were forced to fight to the death with the Hongtang team in the sea area of their old nest. However, after all, Yuan Thief is a hero, a strong man broke his wrist, when he knew that it was irretrievable, Mingli and Hongtang fought a decisive battle as bait, secretly took the opportunity to transfer his henchmen and their food and grass, and finally abandoned the old and weak, resolutely broke through, looked for the east, and there is no whereabouts so far. It was only at this time that a burst of light appeared in the old man's eyes, as if he had seen it himself, imagining the decisive battle that would determine the hegemony of the sea area.

"Oh!!" Lord Futai was thoughtful, but he did not interrupt the old man's conversation.

"It's just a little strange that when the two sides fought a decisive battle, there would be the shadow of the Penghu Water Division, so much so that Xia Guan didn't expect it!"

"What do you mean?"

"Xiaguan has no other meaning, maybe the sailor just happened to be at the meeting, but it is necessary to take precautions, so Xiaguan asked Futai, and it was good to go and investigate with a brocade guard." The old man said lightly, but he involved one of the most terrifying organizations in the world, if he let the sailor Cao Yongyi know, I am afraid that he would be scared half to death.

"Yes, I see." Futai was noncommittal, and did not agree on the spot: "Brother Na Shihong thinks that this is a Yuan thief, and then a Hongtang, is it good or bad for me to go to the southeast coast?" ”

This is also the most surprising place for the lower officials, this Hongtang people, after defeating the Yuan thief, annexed his power and territory, and what they did was completely different from the likes of Haikou. In the sea area under his rule, not only did the ordinary pirates and others not be allowed to rob the passing maritime merchants at will, but as long as the maritime merchants obeyed the rules they set, they would also give such maritime merchants protection. ”

"It's interesting, it seems that they have a lot of plans!" A person who can achieve the position of governor of Fujian is not an ordinary person in terms of mental alertness. This old man's few simple words made him feel strongly concerned about this new group of South China Sea giants.

"Who says it's not, it's a pity that the lower officials are incompetent, and so far they have not been able to train a group of useful sailors for Futai, so that these Haikou can rise and fall, endangering my Ming children." When the old man said this, he couldn't help but be filled with strong frustration.

"Brother Shihong doesn't have to be arrogant, he has carried it for others, the current situation is erosive, he is mediocre and unreasonable, he only wants to be comfortable and happy, and he doesn't know how to benefit the people, and he is greedy for ink, and there are people who are eyeing him after Jinnurhachi, and it is too difficult for us to make a difference." When Lord Futai said this, he felt a deep powerlessness from the bottom of his heart.

He is not a visionary, and he does not know how much a strong and capable sailor can help a coastal province like Fujian. However, although he is in a high position, there are a lot of elbows around him, such as the tax supervisor from the inner servant, the elusive Jinyi guard, and the lackey of Dongchang, every eye is staring at his every move, so that he needs to think twice about every step.

And Fujian is not a happy land, natural and man-made disasters have occurred one after another in recent years, in order to provide disaster relief, he, the master of Futai, is also very poor, not to mention the allocation of a batch of food and salary subsidies for a water division, even the expenses of his own government are reduced again and again.

The old man also knew the difficulties of Futai, so he didn't want to say anything, but he remembered his responsibilities and had to remind one or two: "Yuan thief is first-class and cannot be feared, and it can't be a big deal, but now Hongtang and his gang need more attention." ”

"Especially now they are guarding Taiyuan (that is, Dayuan, but the name of the Ming Dynasty officials, and Dayuan, which is mostly the name of the villagers in Fujian), the soldiers are strong and the horses are strong, and the lower officials are afraid that the tail will not fall!" Although the old man understands Futai's difficulties, he does not agree with his behavior, and Futai has not paid enough attention to several water divisions in Fujian, resulting in the erosion of several water divisions now, which is intolerable to him, a senior official.

Especially now Hongtang and his group, based on Dayuan, have developed and grown, and in the eyes of this old man who has been fighting horses for 40 years and has a deep strategic vision, the future will become the future trouble of the Ming Dynasty.

"It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, so I can only have Brother Lao Shihong to take more precautions against this generation, and I will also think of a way to raise the wrong batch of military funds for the sailor." Futai glanced at the old man in embarrassment, and pleaded with the old man full of trust.

"......" The old man was silent, then cheered up and replied resolutely: "This is the duty of the lower officials, and I will never give up!" ”

(Nervous labor pain, difficulty concentrating, poor writing, forgive me!) )

(End of chapter)