***
Qinzhou Prefecture included the surrounding counties of Lianzhou, Lingshan, Hepu, etc. It was under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province in the Ming Dynasty. Guangxi was a completely inland province with no access to the sea.
But this division is now invalid. Zhu Youlang in Guangdong is out of reach and has no control over Qinzhou at all, so these prefectures now regard Zhu Youlang in Guangxi as the legitimate ruler of the Ming Dynasty, and have actually become part of Guangxi.
Ma Liuliang suddenly came from Gaoping, Jiaozhi, and headed straight for Nanning Prefecture. Nanning prefect Li Jing urgently sent people to Qinzhou for help. Qinzhou prefect Wan Zhiliang was anxious to help and generously sent two hundred reinforcements.
There is no way. In this world, even the landlords don’t have any surplus food!
The entire Qinzhou Prefecture now has only a thousand soldiers, most of whom are old, weak, sick and disabled. The soldiers who can fight have already been transferred north by the Minister of War Qu Shisi.
Anyway, Wan Zhiliang felt that he had done his best. As for whether Nanning Prefecture could be preserved, that was up to fate. Fortunately, Qinzhou was still relatively stable.
"Your Excellency the Prefect, Your Excellency the Prefect, something bad has happened, something bad has happened... There's a ship on the sea..." A bailiff stumbled into the government office and shouted.
Seeing him panicking like this, Wan Zhiliang couldn't help but get angry and asked, "Why are you panicking? How can you look like this?"
"But... ... ."
"But what? Haven't you seen a ship?" Wan Zhiliang shook his official robe and stroked his long beard. He looked calm and composed even when faced with a huge crisis. One could not help but admire him. This is what an official should be.
The bailiff was intimidated by the prefect's demeanor and said timidly, "But prefect, the ship... is not a ship..."
"Tell me, how many ships are there?"
"I don't know!" The bailiff was an honest man.
Wan Zhiliang felt that he was being fooled and was furious: "You don't even know how many ships there are, what do you want to say?"
"Your Excellency, you should go and see for yourself. The sea... the bay is full of ships. There are countless small ones. I really don't know how many there are..."
"What?" Wan Zhiliang then felt something was unusual and quickly asked someone to prepare a sedan chair and head to the South Gate.
The South Gate had been closed by the defenders. Some soldiers on the city wall were pointing and whispering, looking shocked and frightened.
Wan Zhiliang hurriedly climbed up the South Gate Tower, looked around, and immediately couldn't help rubbing his eyes. Where is Qinzhou Bay? It used to be so vast. The extremely broad Qinzhou Bay was gone, leaving only dark clouds... ... .
"Oh... Oh my God!" The prefect, who usually remained calm even when faced with a catastrophe, now had trembling lips and cried out in surprise. His legs went weak and he fell down on the top of the city wall.
Ships, lots of ships... The black sails were like dark clouds brought by a storm, covering the sky and blocking out the sun. Only on the tall mast was a golden dragon baring its fangs and waving its claws, ready to fly.
In addition, the Chinese character "Qin" was embroidered in seal script with gold thread on the flag, and the top looked like a crossbow arrow about to be released, as if it could shoot down the sun and moon in the sky.
"Your Excellency the Prefect, Your Excellency the Prefect, what's wrong with you..."
"Boats... So many boats..." The pale-faced prefect was swayed by the yamen runners and could only repeat "boats, boats" foolishly.
Hai Rufeng stood at the bow, looking at Qinzhou City on the shore, turned his head and spat. He said disdainfully: "You are using a butcher knife to kill a chicken, wasting our time."
Cannon Chief Sun Twelve rubbed his hands and said with a chuckle, "Sir, since we are here, why don't we..."
"Isn't this nonsense? How can we travel so far around the bay and not even fart when we get here?"
Sun Shisan was overjoyed. He straightened his back, stood at attention, saluted, and waited for orders.
Hai Rufeng calmly reached into his pocket, took out his black eye mask, and put it on. For a moment, the commander, who originally had an ordinary appearance, suddenly became domineering.
"Order! Starboard, fire two rounds!"
“Yes!”
The first ten gunboats suddenly drew an arc in the bay. Each warship had ten guns, and the muzzles were pointing at the shore, scaring even the rats on the shore into hiding in their holes.
Boom! Boom! Boom... ... ... .
One hundred cannons, two rounds of salvos, the sound shook the sky, the air was filled with smoke, and the whistling projectiles were like a meteorite rain from the sky, sweeping across the sky and slamming onto the shore. Although they did not hit the city of Qinzhou, the earth-shaking momentum made the whole Qinzhou tremble. The prefect who had just stood up was so scared that he fell down on the top of the city wall again.
Next, the navy withdrew, and hundreds of troop transports and supply ships began to dock and land in batches. During this process, not to mention anyone coming out to stop them, there was not even the barking of a dog in the entire Qinzhou city.
Feng Shuangli led 500 musketeers who landed first to the south gate of Qinzhou, and then Ai Nengqi's 20,000 army began to land in an orderly manner.
The dock of Qinzhou Port is not big and can only accommodate three ships at a time, so the landing process lasted a whole day.
During this process, the Qin army did not attack Qinzhou City. It seemed as if they were here for tourism and it was very quiet.
However, the prefect in the city looked at the sea covered by the black sails and could not bear the heavy feeling of dark clouds pressing down on the city. Before the Qin army was about to complete the landing, he gritted his teeth and asked the yamen runners to find two goats.
It's not his fault. There were still a thousand old and weak people in Qinzhou City, and the prefect just generously sent two hundred to support Nanning Prefecture. As for the remaining hundreds of people... forget it, there are still fewer than the Qin army's warships.
This is not an exaggeration. This time, the Qin army dispatched more than 600 large and small warships, plus troop transports and supply ships, a total of more than 1,300 ships, and 20,000 land forces alone.
This is like using a cannon to kill a mosquito!
Onlookers may think that this cannon may not be able to hit the mosquito, but as for the mosquito itself, it would be strange if it was not scared into a flea.
The south gate of Qinzhou slowly opened. The prefect, who usually remained calm even in the face of disasters, had a bramble tied on his back and two goats in his hands. The associate prefect next to him was holding the yellow book of Qinzhou. They walked out of the south gate to the bleating of the goats.
Qinzhou surrendered just like that!
After resting for two days in Qinzhou and replenishing their food and water, the Royal Navy's 600 large and small warships set sail again and sailed out of Qinzhou Bay in a mighty manner.
Qinzhou is not the Royal Navy’s destination, it is just their starting point!
***
Nanjing City, Daqin Palace.
Qin Mu's fingertips moved slowly on the map and finally landed on Shache City, which was the capital of the Yarkand Khanate.
For more than a hundred years, the Black Mountain Faction and the White Mountain Faction within Yarkand have been fighting endlessly, causing serious internal friction. It is not known whether the Dzungar tribe was persuaded by Xuanjizi or there was internal strife in the Yarkand Khanate again, so the Dzungar Batur Khan suddenly launched a large-scale invasion.
Qin Mu said slowly: "From the current situation, most of the territory of the Yarkand Khanate has been quickly lost, leaving only the southern part of the country where the capital is located. Even if it is not completely destroyed this time, it is unlikely that the rule of the northern part will be restored.
Please look, this is Hami. To the south is the Qaidam Basin controlled by Gushri Khan of the Khoshut tribe. The two formed a pincer attack on Shazhou and Guazhou.
What I am worried about now is that once the Dzungar tribe completes the annexation of the Yarkand Khanate, they will turn around and unite with the Khoshut tribe to plot against the entire Hexi Corridor. "
Lu Zhenfei and the others all looked somewhat solemn. It was New Year's Day, and receiving this news was really unsettling.
Minister of War He Liang said: "If it's just the Dzungars, we don't need to be afraid. What we should worry about now is the alliance between the Dzungars and the Khoshuts. If this happens, the Dzungars will attack Yumen Pass, and the Khoshuts will swoop down from Qinghai and threaten Lanzhou and Liangzhou. If such a situation occurs, the Hexi Corridor will be in great danger."
Sima An raised his head and asked Huang Lianshan, who was sitting below him, "Is there still no news from the envoys who went to the Khoshut tribe?"
When offering sacrifices to the tombs in Xijing, Qin Mu sent envoys to make friends with the Khoshut tribe first, so as to prevent them from joining forces with the Dzungar Khanate to spy on the Hexi Corridor.
Huang Lianshan replied: "No news has been sent back yet. We don't know whether Mr. Huang is negotiating with the Khoshut tribe in Xining or going to Lhasa to negotiate with Gushri Khan in person. If he is going to Lhasa, the mountains are blocked by heavy snow this season and birds can hardly fly across. We will have to wait until the spring and summer when the ice and snow thaw before we can get any news."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "No, it was already winter when I sent Huang Mi as an envoy to the Khoshut tribe. It is unlikely that he would cross the frozen Tanggula to Lhasa at that season. It can be basically concluded that he was in Xining."
"Your Majesty!" Huang Lianshan was secretly shocked, and his eyes suddenly flashed.
"Huang Lianshan, send an order immediately to check Huang Mi's whereabouts and find out what happened."
"Yes!" Huang Lianshan did not dare to delay and quickly slipped out of the hall.
If Huang Mi was sent as an envoy to the Khoshut tribe for negotiations in Xining, there should not have been no news for so long. There is still no news until now, so something must have happened.
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ps: It's the end of the month, and I'm asking my brothers for monthly tickets. Seeing how weak I have been these past few days, I feel really bad. I'm asking my brothers for support with monthly tickets!
.(To be continued..)
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