Chapter 266: Unexpected Incident

"Who wants to go to the South Camp?"

After returning from the Prince's Mansion, Chang Wei summoned the captains.

He spoke briefly about the matter of the flintlocks, then immediately began selecting captains.

The army of thirty thousand required three captains to command them.

"General, I will go." Bai Shang raised his hand, his eyes flashing with intensity.

For the Yan Wang's new firearm army, there was no reason not to go for such a good opportunity.

Everyone had seen the power of the artillery with their own eyes.

Commanding such an army would surely lead to achieving great military merit.

"General, I will go as well." Qin Shan blinked his eyes.

"I will go too." Guan Tong also stood up.

"And I will go." Wei Qun said, cupping his hands.

"......"

Among the eight captains remaining in Yancheng, seven were eager to try.

Lv Chang crossed his arms and looked at the other captains, saying to Chang Wei, "I am not going; it is more satisfying to fight with real blades and spears."

"It's good that you aren't going, that's one less person to compete with us," Qin Shan shouted.

"Exactly," the others chimed in.

Lv Chang curled his lip, not bothering to pay them any mind.

Chang Wei glanced at Lv Chang; this kid had always been a troublemaker who preferred close-quarters combat.

He was indeed not suited to command an army equipped with flintlocks.

Facing the seven who wanted to go, Chang Wei frowned.

These seven were all capable; although four of them were his old subordinates, he could not show favoritism.

Just as he was thinking about who to send, Bai Shang said, "You three are juniors, you cannot compete with us."

He then looked at Qin Shan, Wei Qun, and Guan Tong, and said, "The four of us will play rock-paper-scissors; whoever wins goes."

The four, including Qin Shan, naturally had no objections and were about to play.

Just then, one captain said, "That won't do. In the army, where do these 'juniors' and 'seniors' come from? As long as one can fight, that's enough. We don't accept this."

"We don't accept it," the other two young captains said simultaneously, standing behind the captain who had spoken first.

"Huo An, are you looking for a fight? Fine, whoever wins the fight goes." Bai Shang rolled up his sleeves.

Chang Wei glared at the seven of them, "What are you doing? Do you all think I don't exist? Bai Shang, are you looking for a beating? In the Prince's Mansion army, only ability matters, not seniority."

Bai Shang immediately chuckled; they were still afraid of Chang Wei, "General, I was just joking."

Chang Wei snorted; if he couldn't suppress this bunch of troublemakers, he wouldn't be fit to be their general.

He immediately said, "All seven of you go to the South Camp. I will give each of you a squad of new recruits. Whoever trains them well stays, and whoever trains them poorly, get out!"

"Yes, General," the seven said in unison.

Now they didn't need to compete; it would depend on their own abilities.

Lv Chang showed a disappointed look, "What a pity, a fight didn't break out."

Hearing this, Chang Wei glared at him. Lv Chang shrank his neck, chuckled twice, and slipped away.

The Prince's Mansion.

After Chang Wei and Liu Fu left, Zhao Xu returned to his study to draw the common formations for the flintlock army.

Although the flintlocks had not yet been equipped, the formations needed to be practiced in advance.

That way, when the time came, they would only need to practice loading and firing the flintlocks.

He was busy working.

Suddenly, Feng'er hurried in, her face full of panic.

"Your Highness, something has happened. Chief Chen of the Shipbuilding Department in Jinghai County requests an audience. He... he is injured and says he was attacked."

"What!" Zhao Xu was shocked upon hearing this.

Chen Shou had been in Jinghai County overseeing the construction of warships; how could he have been attacked?

Dropping his brush, he hurriedly stood up and walked outside.

Mi Wen was holding a stack of newly copied books and was just about to look for Zhao Xu.

Seeing Zhao Xu's anxious expression, he put the books down and followed him.

Arriving at the front courtyard of the Prince's Mansion, Zhao Xu saw Chen Shou with a bandage wrapped around his arm.

"Your Highness, this subject deserves to die!" Seeing Zhao Xu, Chen Shou knelt on the ground and began to cry.

Zhao Xu immediately helped Chen Shou up and said, "This, what on earth is going on!"

Tears hung from the corners of Chen Shou's eyes, "Two days ago, this subordinate was overseeing the construction of warships on the coast of Jinghai County as usual, when suddenly a group of sea bandits appeared from nowhere. The soldiers guarding the Shipbuilding Department resisted with all their might, but these sea bandits used a type of weapon that could emit sound and flame."

Seeming to recall the terrifying scene,

He said, "Before the soldiers could even get close, they were killed or wounded by these weapons. This subordinate's arm was also struck, and because we could not hold them off, we had to retreat."

"As a result, as a result, after these sea bandits occupied the coast, they burned the keels that had been built..."

Hearing this, Zhao Xu was overcome with sudden rage and could not speak for a moment.

He had invested over three million taels of Silver into this Shipbuilding Department to purchase timber, and it was all destroyed just like that.

Most importantly, this wasted time for shipbuilding and delayed maritime trade.

Seeing Zhao Xu's face turn pale, Feng'er hurriedly stroked his back, her small face full of anger.

Seeing the Yan Wang like this, Chen Shou felt even more guilty. Catching sight of a pillar nearby, he turned and prepared to run into it.

Xu Lie was quick-eyed and nimble-handed, immediately grabbing Chen Shou.

"What face do I have left to live in this world?" Xu Lie's strength was great, and Chen Shou could not struggle free, bursting into loud sobs.

Zhao Xu's mind went blank for a moment, then he reacted.

He said this group of sea bandits used a weapon that had sound and firelight.

Taking a deep breath, he said: "Director Chen, now is not the time to be acting like you want to die; do you think you can just die before compensating this Prince for these destroyed warships?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Shou was startled at first; he knew Yan Wang was actually trying to comfort him, and his tears gushed forth even more, "Your Highness..."

"Put away your tears for now, and tell this Prince the full story," Zhao Xu said.

Chen Shou nodded, then turned around, took a rod-shaped weapon from the hands of a soldier behind him, and presented it before Zhao Xu, "Your Highness, it is this strange weapon; it was obtained by soldiers at the cost of their lives during the battle."

Zhao Xu took one look, and his gaze immediately turned sharp.

What Chen Shou was holding was clearly a Matchlock.

He took it and examined it closely; the barrel of this gun was forged by wrapping iron sheets.

This barrel forging technique was the same as the craftsmanship of the contemporary Ming Dynasty period.

It belonged to the most basic barrel forging technique, which was actually taking an iron rod, and having a blacksmith wrap red-hot iron sheets around the rod and hammer them.

The disadvantage of this type of barrel was very significant: it was prone to exploding.

At the back of the barrel, a match cord was still hanging.

"The sea bandits who attacked us clamored that they were men of the Wufeng Island Master," Chen Shou added.

"Wufeng Island Master, Wang Zhi," Mi Wen suddenly exclaimed.

Zhao Xu looked at Mi Wen, "You know this so-called Wufeng Island Master?"

"I heard of him when I was in Jingshi; it is said that this Wang Zhi is the greatest sea bandit on the sea, and even the Liang Family must pay him protection money to conduct trade," Mi Wen said.

After thinking for a moment, he continued: "Moreover, this Wang Zhi is a Song Person, but he submitted to Dongying and considers himself an Eastern Japanese; he has many followers under his command, and he has also recruited many Dongying ronin."

The more he spoke, the brighter Mi Wen's eyes became, until he met Zhao Xu's sharp gaze, and he suddenly realized something and shut his mouth.

"Wang Zhi!" Zhao Xu repeated these two words heavily.

He did not care who this Wang Zhi was; having provoked him, he would definitely make him pay a heavy price.