Ruan Fuying's expression was grim as he looked at his trusted subordinates and said, "Doesn't the Ming Emperor claim to care for the people and leave them unmolested? Then we shall do as he wishes."
"Send word out, let those dirt-farmers reflect on what Bai Ziqi, whom they once trusted, did. And think about what Emperor Yongle did to our Annan three hundred years ago."
"Tell those dirt-farmers that Annan is now at a critical juncture between life and death. If the people of Annan can unite as one, just as they did three hundred years ago, and continuously harass the Ming army, then Annan still has hope. If they remain indifferent, then Annan will have no choice but to perish!"
As soon as Ruan Fuying finished speaking, his close aides cried out in unison, "Your Highness, rest assured. We will make the people of Annan understand that Annan belongs to the people of Annan, not to Great Ming!"
"We will do our utmost, we will not retreat from the Ming army, and we will not rest until we succeed!"
The pledges of his confidants gave Ruan Fuying some courage.
Waving his hand to quiet them down, Ruan Fuying continued sternly, "The world knows that my Annan is small and sparsely populated. Even if every citizen were a soldier, we could never defeat the Ming army."
"However, I will not hide anything from you. The Qianlong Emperor of Great Qing sent someone to contact me, saying that Great Qing is willing to provide 30,000 flintlock guns and corresponding ammunition to our Annan."
"Emperor Qianlong even promised that as long as we can defeat the Ming army, he will acknowledge and enfeoff any territory we occupy, no matter how large. Even if we cannot defeat the Ming army, it doesn't matter. As long as we can tie down the Ming army in Annan, when Great Qing marches south again, Emperor Qianlong will give us half of Guangxi."
Upon hearing Ruan Fuying's words, his subordinates felt a sense of disbelief. They were astonished! They, the confidants of Ruan Fuying, had not seen the "Great Ming Daily" before. They knew that when Qianlong, that old dog, sent troops to attack Gorkha, the Ming Emperor chose to remain neutral, even ordering his troops to retreat several miles. Now, when the Ming Emperor sent troops, Qianlong, that old dog, was thinking of sending money, guns, and ammunition to the Ming Emperor's opponent? He even promised territorial concessions in advance? Although their stances were different, Ruan Fuying's confidants truly looked down on our Great Qing from the bottom of their hearts! They even felt that it would be a violation of heavenly principles if our Great Qing were not to fall! Of course, this was from a human perspective. From the perspective of the Annanese barbarians, the more degenerate our Great Qing was, the better. The more silver, guns, and ammunition they sent, the better. Furthermore, they had to admit that the news revealed by Ruan Fuying indeed increased the confidence of these Annanese dignitaries, who were loyal to Annan and even willing to sacrifice their families for official positions, to resist Great Ming. Especially after the flintlock guns and artillery supported by our Great Qing were transported to Annan by some Western ships under the cover of night, these Annanese dignitaries became even more confident!
...
Facing the slightly cool sea breeze in the evening, Captain Yang Tao of the Yizhou stood with his feet as if rooted to the deck, his eyes fixed on the sea, unwilling to miss even the slightest glimmer of light. It was unavoidable. The锦衣卫 (Jinyiwei) had reported that the rebels in Jiaozhi had obtained a batch of flintlock guns. Although they didn't know where they were purchased or who delivered them, it was likely that someone had transported them by sea under the cover of night. This led to the Commander of the South Sea Fleet, Lin Pan, being severely reprimanded by Zhu Erdan. To end the conflict in Jiaozhi in one decisive battle, Zhu Erdan, the Emperor's own brother, the Prince of Qin of the Great Ming Empire, and the former leader of the military headquarters, had personally come to Guangzhou to oversee the situation. Yet, someone had supplied weapons and ammunition to the rebels in Jiaozhi? Lin Pan also felt wronged. The South Sea Fleet had blockaded all ports in Jiaozhi and the surrounding waters. Even if a ship wanted to transport weapons and supplies to the rebels in Jiaozhi under the cover of night, it would have to bypass the South Sea Fleet's warships that were enforcing the blockade. However, the army was never a place for reasoning, nor for asking "why." After being scolded by Zhu Erdan, Lin Pan returned to the South Sea Fleet and reprimanded the captains of all the ships in the fleet, ordering them to intensify their patrols, even at night. Captain Yang Tao of the Yizhou naturally did not escape the scolding, and the Yizhou became the first warship responsible for night patrols. Unfortunately, after patrolling for most of the night, Yang Tao found nothing unusual on the sea, not even a single ship. Since the South Sea Fleet began blockading the waters around Jiaozhi and conducting searches, many ships had deliberately avoided the nearby waters. It wasn't until Yang Tao started to feel sleepy that a flicker of light appeared on the distant sea. Yang Tao was overjoyed and turned to the signalman beside him, ordering, "Inform the mast that the opposite ship should stop immediately and submit to inspection. If you do not stop, you will bear all consequences!" In fact, the lookout on the mast had already signaled: "Opposite vessel, stop immediately and submit to inspection." The light from the opposite vessel quickly responded: "Your vessel, navigate to the left to avoid collision." The lookout was immediately enraged. In the South China Sea, the South Sea Fleet was the master of the sea. Even ships from France and England had to obediently submit to inspection. It was always other ships that yielded to the South Sea Fleet, never the other way around. When had the South Sea Fleet ever yielded to other ships? The lookout immediately signaled again: "We are from the Great Ming Navy, the South Sea Fleet. Your vessel, stop immediately and submit to inspection, otherwise, we will sink you." Soon, the other side also replied with a signal: "We are a lighthouse. You navigate to the left to avoid collision." However, when the lookout conveyed the signal to Yang Tao, the captain of the Yizhou, Yang Tao instinctively felt something was wrong. Lighthouses, as it were, Great Ming had erected quite a few on small islands near the South China Sea. However, the area that the Yizhou was responsible for blockading and patrolling was the area around Tuolun Port. This was quite a distance from the locations of Great Ming's lighthouses, and the lighthouses in Jiaozhi had long since been destroyed. Besides, even if the lighthouses in Jiaozhi had not been destroyed, would those Vietnamese barbarians dare to signal back to the Yizhou at night? Even if the Yizhou had not paid attention to navigation and position, it couldn't possibly have drifted near Great Ming's lighthouses, could it? The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss. Yang Tao simply ordered, "Transmit my command, full speed ahead. Do not yield for now. Let's see what exactly is opposite! Prepare for bombardment!" As Yang Tao's order was passed down, the Yizhou's speed began to increase further, and thick black smoke billowed from its auxiliary steam boilers. Of course, it didn't matter whether the smoke was black or white; it was night, and no one could discern the color of the smoke, nor would anyone accuse Yang Tao of polluting the environment. Following this, Yang Tao's suspicion was confirmed. What kind of lighthouse moves? It was clear that the other side was a ship. Seeing that the Yizhou had no intention of yielding, the ship opposite panicked! All the soldiers on the Yizhou became alert. At night, a ship appeared near Tuolun Port in Jiaozhi, and in response to the Yizhou's command to stop, it deliberately displayed the signal of a lighthouse. What did this signify? It signified that this ship was definitely problematic! The captain of the ship disguised as a lighthouse, Bayen Fank, was indeed in a panic. From the Great Ming Dynasty, the Dutch had been coveting the markets in the Far East and had interacted with Great Ming quite a bit. In the fourth year of the Tianqi reign, the Battle of Penghu, where Great Ming recaptured Penghu from the Dutch, took place, and the Dutch were soundly defeated by Nan Juyi. In the sixth year of the Chongzhen reign, the Battle of Liaoluo Bay occurred between Great Ming and the Dutch. Nine Dutch fleets participated in this war, and they also recruited over fifty pirate fleets – of course, they were beaten by Zheng Zhilong again. By the time Chongzhen hanged himself from the crooked old poplar tree on Coal Hill, it was the fifteenth year of the Yongli reign of the Southern Ming Dynasty, which was the eighteenth year of the Shunzhi reign of our Great Qing. The Dutch were once again beaten by Zheng Chenggong. Therefore, the Dutch did not really take our Great Qing seriously. However, after being beaten by Nan Juyi, and then by Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong, the Dutch were very wary of warships flying the "Ming" flag. For instance, many boys are afraid of their fathers, even if they haven't been beaten for many years – mainly because the psychological shadow of childhood beatings was too profound. Moreover, the market volume of Great Ming was there. France had already made a fortune in its dealings with Great Ming, and the profits were so enticing that all the countries in Europe were envious. The Dutch were currently trying to figure out how to get in touch with Great Ming. If the Great Ming fleet discovered that the Dutch were helping our Great Qing transport flintlock guns and ammunition to Annan... Let alone whether it would trigger a war between the two countries, just being shut out of the Great Ming market would be enough to give Bayen Fank a headache. "Accelerate! Accelerate! You fools, damn it!" Bayen Fank yelled incoherently at the sailors and the Negro slaves, "If we can't escape the damned Ming warship, we'll all be thrown into the sea to feed the sharks! Or, they'll chop off our heads!" However, to Bayen Fank's despair, no matter how much he yelled at the sailors, the merchant ship's speed was limited, and it was a merchant ship heavily laden with over ten thousand flintlock guns and several tons of ammunition. Seeing the Yizhou warship closing in, Bayen Fank gradually regained his composure. While ordering the slave sailors to speed up, he led his trusted subordinates to the deck. "Quick, throw it all overboard!" "Don't leave a single box! Not even one flintlock gun!" "At least we must clear these things before the Ming warship catches up!" Bayen Fank's subordinates also knew the consequences of being caught by a Ming warship. After all, the East India Company had suffered such losses several times before. Therefore, despite their heartache, the subordinates did not hesitate to carry out Bayen Fank's orders. As the flintlock guns and ammunition on deck gradually decreased, Bayen Fank, while feeling the pain, cried out in his heart, "God bless!" As long as these things could be cleared before the Ming warship caught up, there was still room for maneuver. Fortunately, perhaps the elderly Lord God was online at this time, and happened to hear Bayen Fank's prayer, and happened to be in a good mood, so, before the Yizhou caught up with the Pearl, those things that were enough to send Bayen Fank to hell were indeed cleared away. After sailing a bit further, Bayen Fank, who had gradually calmed down, stopped running and ordered the slave sailors to stop, intending to honestly submit to inspection by the Ming warship. Since the goods were gone, Bayen Fank was not worried at all. Bayen Fank even planned to complain to Great Ming, accusing Great Ming warships of acting barbarically at sea and chasing normal sailing merchant ships. And what happened next was indeed as Bayen Fank expected. When Yang Tao and his subordinates boarded the Pearl, they found nothing at all. Bayen Fank sneered continuously, "Respected Ming officer, have you found anything?" Yang Tao's face immediately turned dark, and he looked at Bayen Fank, who was sneering, and asked, "Since you have nothing to hide, why did you impersonate a lighthouse? And why did you try to flee?"