Chapter 117: The Gathering of Storms

The long coastline was immersed in the dark night. More than 20 Jinyiwei galloped and ran in the starry night. The dark world flew past them. The wind roared in his ears. In the distance, a full moon was rising slowly on the dark sea level. At least four hours before dawn, the full moon was golden and the sea gradually shone with ripples of golden light. But soon, the dreamy sea rise was covered by a long, seemingly wriggling mountain shadow.

Li Wei couldn't help but slow down his horse. He silently stared at the mysterious cliff in the distance. It was the cliff that split Chinese history into two and finally walked step by step into the dark abyss. The cliff was the famous cliff mountain.

‘There is no China after Yashan’, the spirit of the Han and Tang dynasties and the prosperity of the Song Dynasty gradually formed over the past two thousand years. It stopped abruptly under this cliff. More than 200,000 Han people who were unwilling to be enslaved by foreign races went to the sea here.

The sound of the sea breeze was filled with terrifying roars. Li Wei was biting his lips tightly and whipping his war horse Lingzhi hard. Lingzhi cheered up again and jumped into galloping, flashing past the side of more than 20 Jinyiwei like a ghost flying in the moon. The night was quickly flooded it with the whistling sea breeze.

When dawn was about to break, they finally arrived at the end of this trip. It was located at Guanghaiwei, the southernmost end of Guangzhou Prefecture. It is about 500 miles away from Guangzhou, which is the seaside of Taishan County, Guangdong Province today. Opposite the sea is the Chuanshan Islands, mainly composed of two large islands, Shangchuan Island and Xiachuan Island. In the early Ming Dynasty, it was a deserted place, but there was an army of thousands of people stationed by the sea, namely Guanghaiwei, one of the two major armies of Guangzhou Prefecture, Guanghaiwei.

Guanghaiwei mainly defends against the three counties of Xiangshan, Xinning, Xinhui and Zhaoqing Prefecture on the west coast of the Lingding Ocean. It is a naval defense army dominated by naval forces, with Cross Gate as the boundary (that is, today's Macau waters). To the east of Cross Gate is the South China Sea Guard patrol, and to the west of Cross Gate is the jurisdiction of Guanghaiwei. Both guards are responsible for the heavy responsibility of defending Japanese pirates and combating smuggling and pirates, but one is loose and the other is strict, and Guanghaiwei is obviously much more severe.

The sea breeze was full of chill at dawn, and the horses whipped white air and slowly walked towards the military camp gate three miles away. Li Wei was rushing to the Guanghaiwei station in three days, and this army would become his last battle.

The military camp of Guanghaiwei was built in a harbor, half of which were water villages and half land camps, with a total of 5,000 troops. Among them, the Pisces Thousand Household Institute and the Langhai Thousand Household Institute were distributed in Yangjiang County. The military camp of Guanghaiwei only had 3,000 garrisons, more than 300 large and small ships, and nearly half were civilian ships confiscated after the sea ban. When more than 20 Jinyiwei were still one mile away from the camp, the gate of the military camp opened, and a patrol team composed of hundreds rushed over and blocked the way.

The leader was a young family, about the early 20s. When he saw Li Wei wearing a golden flying fish suit, an embroidered spring knife, a black veil hat, and a war horse of divine horse, he immediately became respectful and knew that this was the legendary Jinyiwei. He quickly bowed and said, "May I ask, are you going to our military camp?"

Li Wei was taking out the Jinyiwei waist sign and flashed, and said loudly: "The three thousand households of the Jinyiwei station led the public to Guanghaiwei and ordered your commanders to go out to the camp and receive orders quickly."

The Baihu was extremely nervous. Could it be that the commander was going to suffer? He did not dare to say much, and immediately turned his head to drive towards the military camp. After a moment, the commander of Guanghai Guard and several Qianhu and deputy Qianhu came out to greet him. The commander of Guanghai Guard was named Pan Ning, who was over 40 years old. He was just transferred from Shandong the year before yesterday. He was not tall, but very strong. His face was dark and red by the sea breeze. In the dawn of dawn, his eyes were bright.

Pan Ning also received an emergency letter from the commander-in-chief, knowing that the Jinyiwei Qianhu led 300 people to Guangdong to investigate the case, but his army was located in a remote place, and the hurricane this summer had little impact on the counties near Guanghaiwei. He did not take the investigation of the Jinyiwei's case to heart, thinking that it had nothing to do with him, but he did not expect that at dawn, the Jinyiwei Qianhu came to his door.

His heart was pounding, and he stepped forward and bowed and said, "Pan Ning, commander of the Guanghai Guard, please see the Lord Qianhu of the Jinyiwei."

Whether in the government or in the army, they are all high-ranking officials and the Jinyiwei are the exception. They are hawks and dogs personally commanded by the emperor, especially at the Qianhu Army's level, which are powerful. From the princes to the commander-in-chief, they can not buy anything. Although Gu Panning is above Li Wei's level, he still has to salute respectfully.

"My commander, don't be too polite, I'm just here to do it." Li Wei was turning over and dismounting, coming to him and whispering: "I have a secret decree on me, and this is not a place to speak. Let's go to your camp to discuss in detail."

When Pan Ning heard that there was a secret order from the emperor, he was so nervous that he was about to jump out of his mind. He hurriedly invited Li Weizheng and his group into the camp, and ordered his personal guards to wait outside his tent, and no one came.

Only he and Li Weizheng were left in the big tent. At this time, Li Weizheng took out Zhu Yuanzhang's gold medal and said in a deep voice: "The emperor's gold medal is here, don't kneel down!"

When Pan Ning saw the word "Yu" on the gold medal, he was so scared that he knelt down and bowed three times and nine times to the gold medal. "I am the commander of Guanghaiwei Pan Ning, please bow to the emperor."

The gold medal was given by Zhu Yuanzhang, who was investigated by Li Weizheng, who was allowed to call the army three times with the gold medal. Today is his first use. If he sees the gold medal, he will see the emperor himself. Pan Ning has no doubts anymore. Now Li Weizheng's words are equivalent to the emperor's will. Even if he is asked to jump into the sea, he will not hesitate.

Seeing that Pan Ning was convinced, Li Wei smiled and said, "Mr. Pan, don't be too nervous. This gold medal is not actually targeting you. It's just that the person I want to arrest is in Guangzhou Prefecture, and I can only rely on you."

Pan Ning thought about it and immediately asked: "Mr. Li was talking about Yu Guangqing, the commander of the South China Sea Guard?"

In fact, the reason is very simple. Li Weizheng led the 300 Jinyiwei to Guangdong and arrested anyone in Guangzhou Prefecture. Only Yu Guangqing, who owns an army, had not enough talents. Besides, Pan Ning also heard of Yu Guangqing's protection and smuggling. However, Yu Guangqing's backstage was very tough, and they could not afford to offend anyone, so they could only pretend not to know anything.

Li Weizheng nodded and said, "You are right. The person I want to arrest is Yu Guangqing. I need your full help."

Confirm that it was the arrest of Yu Guangqing, Pan Ning was excited and said, "Don't worry, if there is a gold medal for the emperor, you can do as many soldiers as you want. Please give an order."

Li Weizheng had a plan in his mind, and he slowly said, "I want to transfer two thousand navy masters and set off immediately!"

It rained on the sea, the sea breeze was bitter, and ragged and thin gray clouds rushed past the dark sky. The thick clouds of black ink in the distance were rolling up and down, mixed with lightning. The torn sky instantly illuminated the dark clouds into red, making them look particularly terrifying and ferocious, as if there was the entrance to hell.

A medium-sized wooden boat was undulating on the sea surface, and the sails had been closed, allowing the waves to rush it to an island. Kuchichi Hideji, who had only one hand left on the bow, staring at the lightning in the distance with excitement, as if he was sensing the unrivaled power of nature. He stood steadily, as if a wooden stake was nailed to the deck.

At the hatch not far behind him, Kikuchi Fengya was carrying a pot of wine and drinking slowly. If Zhao Wuji saw her again at this time, he would be shocked. At this time, Kikuchi Fengya was no longer the image of a pure girl. Her eyes were cold and full of murderous intent. She was wearing armor similar to Japanese soldiers. She was covered with silver scales like koi. Her face was painted with oil, and her hair was dyed red. She was like a witch during the sacrifice of the indigenous tribe. She had a long bow on her back and a Japanese demon knife crossed her waist. Between lightning and red clouds, she seemed to be a demon girl from another world.

At this time, she had recovered her true identity, "Thousand-faced Moon God", the pirate leader of Shikoku Island in Japan, and the female leader of one of the three major Japanese pirate groups. At the age of fifteen, she led 500 pirates to rob the coast of Goryeo. At most, she had more than a thousand people under her command, most of them were Japanese pirates, as well as the Goryeo people and the thieves who died in the sea in the Ming Dynasty.

Kikuchi Fenga is an ambitious woman. She is not satisfied with leading the rovers Sanyong to rob the coast of the Ming and Goryeo. She longs for the support of the Japanese Southern Dynasties and officially becomes the navy of the Japanese Southern Dynasties. For this reason, three years ago, she returned to Nara as the orphan of the Kikuchi family's eldest son, trying to convince the Southern Dynasties to support her through the Kikuchi family, but she failed. The timid and arrogant Kikuchi family elders regarded her as a heresy and rejected her suggestions again and again.

Just when she was deeply disappointed, her uncle Kikuchi Takeo was ordered to go to the Ming Dynasty. Kikuchi Fengya, who was proficient in Chinese, recommended herself to go to the Ming Dynasty with the delegation. She thus came into contact with Prince Liangcheng, the representative of the hardline in the Southern Dynasty. Although she could not support them in physical form, Prince Liangcheng gave her a false title of guarding Ryukyu and promised her that as long as she organized a team of 3,000 people, the Southern Dynasty would officially recognize her as the regular army of the navy.

Inspired by this, Kikuchi Fengya regained her identity as the "Thousand-faced Moon God" and ordered five hundred men stationed in Ryukyu to go south to Guangdong to wait for the order, preparing to loot the coast of Guangdong, which had just been hit by a hurricane and was lax in combat.

When she learned that the King of Qin was preparing to deliver 300,000 silver in Guangdong, she immediately decided to seize the batch of silver to continue to expand her troops. However, she was in the capital and could not contact her subordinates outside the coast of Guangdong. Coincidentally, she was ordered to kill the Northern Dynasties envoy and obtained the protection of the King of Qin. She then followed Zhao Wuji to Guangdong. In Guangzhou, she immediately contacted the secret sentry and issued an order to intercept the silver ship, but her order was one step late, and four Luojiahai ships had already unloaded the goods on Huangpu Island.

Kikuchi Fengya drank all the wine in the glass and looked at her half-brother with interest. This brother was not an ordinary person. He only learned two days ago that she was the leader of the Japanese pirates, but he was not surprised. He only said one thing: send him back to Japan.

Kikuchi Fengya is actually twenty-seven years old this year. The so-called saying that her husband was killed by the Ming army and became addicted to alcohol is just a beautiful story she made up. She has no husband. In fact, the night the man she liked was killed by the Ming army, she slept on another man's bed.

No, although there have been many men in her life, she has never been obsessed with any man, nor will she rely on any man. She believes in the naked law of the jungle, the survival of the fittest, and the survival of the fittest. There was a man she liked who hoped that she could retire and become a good wife and mother, but she cut off her head with her own hands. She could not tolerate any person who threatened her.

"Chief, please return to the cabin, we are about to get ashore." A young subordinate dressed in a Japanese samurai suit respectfully invited her back to the cabin.

"Are everyone ready?" Kikuchi Fengya asked coldly.

"We are ready, just wait for the leader to come back and we will set off immediately."

On the sea, the surging waves rolled towards the shore in a terrifying and calm manner, rising up violently, forming an arch wall made of steel, flashing with a dark green light, and hitting the beach with a loud bang.

A big wave rushed over and rushed the boat that Kikuchi Fengya was riding onto the beach. More than a dozen people got off the boat along the rope ladder and walked quickly towards a hill in the distance.

This is a small island on the sea outside the Lingdingyang Ocean, called Laowanshan Island. The island is deserted and there are many caves made of wind-eroded on a small hill. The cave has become a temporary residence for the Japanese pirates. There is a small bay on the other end of the island, like a small natural harbor. There are currently more than a dozen ships moored in the harbor and are on standby at any time.

When the Japanese pirates heard that the leader had returned, hundreds of people flocked out of the cave, cheering everywhere, and many were barefoot. They ran to the beach and fell to their knees. Most of these Japanese pirates were following Fengya Kikuchi, who admired her very much.

Kikuchi Fenga was very moved. She left them for three years, but they remained loyal. She jumped onto a big rock and whispered: "Brothers, I have been in the Southern Dynasties for three years. I have always wanted to find the support of the court so that we can become the Japanese navy, but I was disappointed. The people in the Southern Dynasties' Senate have been weak for a long time, timid and conservative. They no longer have the courage to expand externally, but Prince Liangseki supports us. As long as our team reaches three thousand people, we will officially become the navy of the Southern Dynasties. You will all become real samurai and the pioneers of the Japanese empire."

The words of the leader made these devastated rogues extremely excited. They waved their demon swords and roared wildly. The beach was like demons dancing. Kikuchi Fengya waved her hands again to calm them down. She continued to shout: "If we want to expand our troops, we must have money and supplies. Money and supplies will not fall from the sky. We have to rely on us to rob and plunder. This time I sneaked into the Ming Dynasty and got an important information. There are 300,000 taels of silver and countless supplies hidden on a small island in Lingdingyang. Don't worry about who their master is. If we take this money, our dream will be realized tomorrow."

Speaking of this, she suddenly pulled out the demon sword, pointed to the north and shouted wildly: "Let's go now and grab this batch of silver."

Hundreds of Japanese pirates shouted in unison, turned around and ran towards the ship anchored in the harbor. Kikuchi Fengya slowly inserted the knife into the sheath and asked his brother Xiuji next to him, "Are you going with me?"

Kikuchi Hideji turned around and looked deeply at the lightning that was constantly piercing the thick clouds in the distance, and he nodded silently.

On Huangpu Island, Ronansheng arrived at the island in the afternoon by a fastboat. At this moment, the head of the Luo family was calculating the island's supplies in a stone house. According to his father's instructions, the Luo family had only one way to avoid this catastrophe, that is, leave the Ming Dynasty and settle in the country of Malacca. Otherwise, Li Weizheng's most tolerance would be tolerant, and the Luo family men would definitely not be able to survive.

So from the night when the Luo family reached an agreement with the Jinyiwei, the Luo family began to secretly transport the property of their hometown in Guangzhou and Qingyuan to the island to prepare to escape from the Ming Dynasty. In more than ten days, the Luo family had transported most of the fine and soft property. In addition, nearly 300 women and children from the Luo family also came to the island, but no one of the Luo family was allowed to leave. This was the order of the head of the hometown. He knew that all this was under the control of the Jinyiwei. In fact, Li Wei was accused of their escape plan, but there was a limit problem here. The Luo family could leave money and things, women and children could leave, but neither of them could leave. This was a tacit understanding. Before the smuggling case of the Qin King, the Luo family was not relieved, and the Luo family was still under the close surveillance of the Jinyiwei.

The island is already a little bustling and crowded. In addition to the 300 women and children of the Luo family, more than 400 armed servants from their hometown in Qingyuan are also on the island. In addition to the nearly 400 people on the island, more than 1,000 people have lived on Huangpu Island.

Luo Nansheng was sitting in the room to calculate the supplies that had been brought to the island. At this time, a servant hurriedly ran over and reported: "Master, a team of military ships are coming on the sea."

Luo Nansheng was surprised. Why did he advance? Didn’t he agree to come to transport silver in two days? He threw down his pen and ran to the dock. When he ran to the dock, five or six military ships had already docked. A team of soldiers came down from the ship and stood with guns. At this time, a person walked off the ship. It was Yu Guangqing, the commander of the South China Sea Guard, who came out to transport silver in person.

Luo Nansheng felt like he was playing a drum in his heart. He just realized that the Luo family had made a big mistake. Before the Qin King's 300,000 taels of silver were transported away, they shouldn't have transported the Luo family's property to the island. Yu Guangqing was greedy and cruel. Once he knew about it, could the money and property still leave?

Even though he was worried, he still respectfully stepped forward and bowed: "Small man see the commander."

Yu Guangqing was indeed coming to transport silver. He received Zhao Wuji's order to transport the silver to the military camp in advance, but he did not expect that Luo Nansheng was also on the island. He was a little surprised. He smiled without saying a word and said, "It turns out that the head of the Luo family is also here, which is a coincidence."

"The villain is worried about the silver of His Highness Qin King. Come check it out and commander come, but you want to transport them away?"

"That's right!" Yu Guangqing nodded, and he looked around and asked, "Where is Mr. Tan? Why didn't you see me?"

"General Yu, I'm here." Tan Yanling walked over from behind, and he smiled and bowed, "I've been waiting for you for a long time, and the general is finally here."

Yu Guangqing smiled and said, "Since Mr. Tan is anxious, let's move the silver now."

As he said that, he handed Zhao Wuji's letter to Tan Yanling. Tan Yanling read the letter, then waved his hand and ordered his subordinates to take the soldiers to move silver. Luo Nansheng was worried that his family's wealth would be discovered by the soldiers, so he also found an excuse to secretly arrange money and goods.

When Luo Nansheng walked away, Tan Yanling looked at his back and suddenly smiled at Yu Guangqing in a dark smile: "Do you know that most of the money and women and children of the Luo family are on this small island?"

Yu Guangqing was stunned, and he immediately reacted and said happily: "Mr. Tan's words are serious?"

Tan Yanling also smelled the Luo family's intention to escape, that is, they will not be prepared to serve His Highness the King of Qin in the future, so there is no point in keeping them. Tan Yanling, who has always claimed to be "non-toxic, no husband", finally got murderous intent. He sneered and said, "Of course it's true! Those money and things were seen with my own eyes. I guess they are worth no less than 200,000 taels of silver, and there are many female relatives who are as beautiful as flowers. Isn't Mr. Yu interested?"

Yu Guangqing's heart suddenly became hot. The beauty of the Luo family women is famous, especially Luo Beisheng's wives and concubines and Luo family's daughters are famous beauties in Guangzhou. How could he let go of this opportunity? But he also understood that Tan Yanling would not be able to roar without any wind, so he hurriedly said: "I follow Lord Tan's arrangements in everything."

When Tan Yanling saw him on the way, he immediately nodded and said, "Okay, how many people have you brought?"

Yu Guangqing looked embarrassed. He didn't know that the Luo family's property was on the island, so he only brought 200 personal soldiers to transport silver. If he had known, he would have brought more.

"I only brought two hundred people, I don't know if it's enough!"

Tan Yanling pondered for a moment and lowered his voice, "I also have two hundred guards, each of them can be ten. With your two hundred soldiers, there are only six hundred servants on the other side, which should be enough. However, ensuring the safety of His Highness the King of Qin's silver is the primary task. In this way, transport the silver first and then shoot back at night. We don't want women, but we will open the property of the Luo family for four or six. His Highness the King of Qin takes six, and you take four, how about you?"

Of course, Yu Guangqing did not dare to compete with His Highness Qin, but the wealth worth 80,000 taels of silver was enough. He quickly agreed: "I will follow Mr. Tan's arrangements in everything."

At this time, hundreds of guards and soldiers had already carried the large wooden box containing silver. With a sound of slogans, they carefully carried the silver box onto the military ship. Luo Nansheng also arranged his money and came hurriedly. Fifty large silver boxes had been carried onto the ship. The soldiers and the Qin King guards were lined up onto the ship.

Tan Yanling stepped forward and bowed to Luo Nansheng and smiled, "I have been taking care of the Luo family since March. For half a year, Tan will remember the favor of the Luo family. Together with the contributions of the Luo family this time, I will definitely give the Luo family many good words in front of the King of Qin. Now I will say goodbye."

Luo Nansheng also quickly replied, "I dare not take it. After completing Your Highness's mission, I have let go of my heart."

Yu Guangqing next to him also bowed and smiled, "It's getting late, so let's say goodbye now."

He and Tan Yanling finally got on the boat. The pedals turned, and the waves at the stern rolled. The military ship slowly turned around and drove eastward. Gradually, they became farther and farther away, and disappeared. Luo Nansheng kept seeing the military ship disappear, so he immediately said to his opponent: "Go to Shunde and call our big ship. We will get on the boat overnight tonight and leave here."
Chapter completed!