Fujian Chengxuan’s General Secretary Zhangzhou Prefecture, south of the Chaozhou Prefecture in Guangdong, is located close to Guangdong. There is a large island called Dongshan. This island is more than a hundred miles long and more than 80 miles wide, and looks like a butterfly. It is a large island on the southeast coast.

As noon was approaching that day, a huge fleet suddenly appeared on the sea dozens of miles north of Dongshan. The fleet was not many ships, only more than ten in total, but each ship was extremely large, as high as a city tower, and looked like a castle on the water.

Fishermen and sea merchants who have been wandering on the sea all year round know that these are blessed ships and famous maritime giant ships along the southeast coast.

There are two types of lucky ships. One is called the big lucky ship, which is about fifteen zhang long and three zhang wide. It has three masts on the vertical sails and can carry more than a hundred people. The other is called the lucky ship, which is about twelve zhang long and two zhang wide. It has two masts on the vertical sails and can carry more than 60 people.

The origin of the Fu Ship can be roughly traced back to the Song Dynasty, but its prosperity was in the Ming Dynasty.

During the reign of the Ming Navy, there were nearly 4,000 warships of all sizes and sizes, of which there were no less than 400 blessing ships. During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He, the famous Sanbao eunuch, went to the West and brought more than 200 blessing ships of all sizes. In that scene, the sails on the sea covered the sky and the sun like jungle, which was really spectacular.

Unfortunately, in the Jiajing Dynasty more than a hundred years later, the Ming Navy not only did not develop, but instead declined day by day. Less than 30% of the navy's warships were left, and less than 10% of the large ships like the Fu Ship were left. For example, the famous Fujian Navy, there were only one big lucky ship and several lucky ships left, and there was no longer the glory of the past.

This fleet of more than ten lucky ships is obviously not the navy fleet under the Fujian Dushi Division, because there are three or four big lucky ships in this fleet, and the navy fleet under the Fujian Dushi Division does not have so many big lucky ships at all!

So, which force does this fleet belong to?

On the Dafu ship at the forefront of the fleet, Chen Wenjie was standing proudly behind a middle-aged man with a floating beard constantly scanning his fleet.

That’s right, this is the merchant fleet or pirate fleet under the Chen family of Longxi!

Although these lucky ships are not from their Chen family, their Chen family can command these maritime merchants who own lucky ships and let them do their own business.

Speaking of the Ming Navy fleet, there are not so many lucky ships. Why does a pirate fleet under a wealthy maritime businessman have so many giant ships?

This is actually caused by the sea ban.

Since the Yongle Dynasty of Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty had only one move to deal with threats from the sea. When there were too many pirates, the Japanese pirates were in danger of being frightened, and when the sea surface was calmer, they could not be able to trade. They never thought of taking the initiative to develop naval troops, clearing out pirates and Japanese pirates, and taking the initiative at the sea.

In other words, the Ming Dynasty court only cared about bans and strictly prohibited the people from communicating with Japanese troops, and never cared about the development of the navy. However, coastal maritime merchants smuggled through various means, did their own businesses, made huge profits, and continued to grow and grow. This caused the situation where pirates and Japanese pirates were banning more and more, while the Ming navy was becoming weaker and weaker.

During the Jiajing period, this situation was particularly serious. Under the protection of the maritime merchants and Japanese pirates, trade between maritime merchants and Japanese pirates became more and more frequent. In order to make huge profits, sea merchants in various places were crazily building giant sailing ships for oceans. Their scale was getting bigger and bigger, so that almost all the southeastern waters became sea areas for pirates and Japanese pirates.

During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Xie Jie, a descendant of the Xie family in Yuyao, described the contradiction between the sea ban and the continuous development of industry and commerce in the southeast in "Qiantai and Wazhang". In order to survive and to make huge profits, many merchants in the southeast chose to take risks and engage in maritime trade, forming a huge maritime interest group at that time.

"There is no permission to go into the sea, and the giant ships are blocking the river. Instant goods are not allowed to enter the countryside, and the children will always leave with full load of jade and silk."

This is the result of the Jiajing Dynasty's maritime ban. The maritime ban not only did not prohibit maritime trade, but instead made the maritime merchants relying on the four wealthy families make a fortune, and the smuggling fleets have developed to the point of covering the sky and blocking the sun. The maritime merchants who were originally engaged in overseas trade secretly gradually transformed into "pirates" who confronted the official army, and the maritime merchants such as the Chen family of Longxi are the leaders and protective umbrellas of these pirates.

Chen Wenjie looked at the huge lucky boats around him and felt so proud. Hui'an Yang family was nothing in front of his Longxi Chen family. At this time, he couldn't help but hum in his heart: "Boy, you don't know how powerful our Longxi Chen family is. You must kill you this time!"

His hatred for Yang Cong had reached an irresistible level, especially after hearing that Yang Cong and Zhang Zhen were engaged, he was even more jealous. With his strong plea, the head of Chen, the Chen family in Longxi, finally agreed to send someone to assassinate and kill Yang Cong, the "scoundrel". At the same time, he secretly controlled the assets of the Hui'an Yang family through Yang Yun!

However, they did not intend to let their maritime merchants, pirates, take action, but instead intended to ask authentic Japanese pirates to help.

This time, he came to contact the Japanese pirates.

As for where to find Japanese pirates, the Chen family in Longxi naturally knew.

The southwest corner of Dongshan Island is surrounded by mountains and rarely visited, but there is a Zhuma River, with a wide estuary and facing Zhao'an Bay, which is a good place to moor ships. Therefore, the maritime merchants jointly built a simple port here for trading with Japanese pirates and even the Red-haired Fans of Europe. Here, there are real Japanese pirates!

At this time, the fleet was approaching Dongshan Island, and there were gradually more and more huge sea ships on the sea surface like Fu Ship. However, most of these sea ships were in groups of three or five, and the overall size and size of the hull could not be compared with the Longxi Chen fleet. Moreover, they also knew the Longxi Chen family's flag. Therefore, wherever the Longxi Chen fleet passed, other sea ships took the initiative to give up the channel and did not dare to stand in front of them at all.

Not long after, the fleet turned into the entrance of Zhao'an Bay, and not far ahead was the entrance of Zoumaxi.

Chen Wenjie looked up and saw a strange scene.

I saw a big river flowing out of the vast mountains, as if it had split the mountains from it. It was so spectacular!

Although the name of this Zouma River is a stream, its estuary is extremely wide. There is also a large mudflat on the south side, which is suitable for building small ports. There are already several piers extending from the sea. At that height, there is no problem with the blessed boats reaching up.

When he arrived here, the middle-aged man standing in front of Chen Wenjie suddenly became extremely serious. He solemnly explained: "Wenjie, don't glance around casually or talk nonsense later. This place is not as good as Longxi. There are as many desperate people as cows. If you are not careful, you will get into trouble."

When Chen Wenjie heard this, he couldn't help but say proudly: "Uncle, who else dares to mess with our Longxi Chen family in the southeastern sea?"

Chen Jiudao shook his head slightly and said, "Our Chen family in this Fuguang Sea is still a bit important. However, in Zhejiang, the East and South China Sea, our Chen family is nothing. Most of the business people here are from the East and South China Seas. Although they are extremely humble to us on the surface, they are not afraid of our Chen family at heart. So, you must be careful and you must not cause trouble."

Chen Wenjie nodded as if he had understood it, but his face still looked arrogant. He didn't know whether he listened or not.

At this time, the Chen family's fleet in Longxi had already moved to the dock one after another, and other lucky ships had already started to set up hanging ladders to unload the goods. However, no one was unloading the goods on the lucky ship where Chen Jiudao and Chen Wenjie were on because he was not here to deliver goods, but to find someone.

Chen Jiudao took Chen Wenjie and a group of followers off the boat and skillfully walked towards a courtyard surrounded by stone walls next to the pier. There, a man wearing Japanese armor and a group of subordinates in Japanese costumes had already been presided over the gate of the courtyard.

When Chen Jiudao saw the man, he quickly walked forward and bowed, "General Ye, long time no see, how are you doing lately?"

General?

Could this guy be a general in Japan? But why is his surname Ye?

When Chen Wenjie heard this, he couldn't help but look at the "General Ye" curiously. No matter how he looked, he didn't look like a Japanese man. Except for the Japanese armor on his body, his appearance and hairstyle were no different from those of the people of the Ming Dynasty.
Chapter completed!