Whaling and adjusting the Tian Gui

  "In the Northern Ocean there is a fish, its name is Kun. The size of the Kun is unknown, it may be several thousand miles in length. It transforms into a bird, its name is Peng. The back of the Peng is also unknown, it may be several thousand miles in width. When angry and flying, its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky."

  "The Carefree Wandering of Zhuangzi"

  A massive column of water suddenly erupted from the sea, forming a series of water columns that could trigger rainbows. The mighty ones who were stirring up waves in the sea occasionally stretched out their huge whale tails on the surface of the sea, and even once jumped out of the sea surface, immediately slamming the front half of their whale body heavily onto the sea surface, quickly forming an outwardly expanding shockwave.

  "Hold steady, all of you!" Imperial Knight Karl von Sedinholm bellowed at the helmsman, Gniewomir, while chewing on a plug of West Indian tobacco imported from the Anguilleurs. "Cowards! If even whales scare you, then get back under your mother's skirts right now!"

  Although Kong Tian couldn't understand Karl's rapid-fire Danish, he knew the red-haired men were definitely swearing again. With a faint flush on his face, he suddenly struck the wheel in his hand, and the brand-new brig "Sea God" slid out of a beautiful white trail, gliding smoothly past those elegant animals.

  ??

  There is sufficient evidence to show that, as early as 100 AD, the ancient Eskimos and North American Indians regularly hunted whales for food, fuel, and materials for making tools. In Europe, systematic whaling began in the late Middle Ages around the Bay of Biscay in Spain. By the early 16th century, Basque whalers were already able to track whale pods, braving storms and traveling long distances to the coasts of Newfoundland and Iceland. In the 17th century, the Dutch and English formed large whaling fleets, with the Dutch alone having around 300 whaling ships and nearly 20,000 whalers at sea each year, with their whaling grounds extending as far as Greenland and Canada's Davis Strait.

  "Look at me!" A Portuguese sailor named Bull Duke commanded a few small boats that had been lowered from the Sea God to quickly approach the gray whale pod in front of him. At this time, these marine animals that did not understand human cruelty were still swimming slowly and steadily. Suddenly, Bull Duke threw down the harpoon with a hook in his hand.

  A faint cry that was inaudible to the human ear escaped, the surrounding whales swam frantically, only the victim covered in blood struggled desperately, but the harpoon on the catcher's ship had a sturdy rope attached, and no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't dive down to the sea floor. Moreover, another small boat commanded by the short Irishman Pomoren also thrust his harpoon with great force.

  The sea surface was churning like a boiling pot, the injured whale struggled desperately, but how could the boy scouts who were holding on to the rope tightly let go? After tossing about for half a day and dyeing the entire sea red, this poor whale finally slowly lost its strength.

  At this time, the two small boats playing the brave ones were towed together and soon brought the dying whale to the already stopped Neptune. On one side of Neptune, several longer and thicker harpoons had been prepared, and with a single order, several young sailors threw down the harpoons in turn, and the whale that was already powerless only struggled slightly before completely losing its life.

  "Hurry, pull the whale on board." Given that there were not a few sharks on the East Asian sea surface, in order to ensure that the prey did not smell the bloody smell and was snatched away by the ocean killer, Captain Carl commanded as such. With the help of the boom, the 2-3 ton heavy sea giant was lifted onto the ship. "Today I'll teach you how to extract whale oil on the spot."

  In the European world, whale oil was an extremely important fat that could be used not only for lighting but also widely in the leather industry, and was also used for steel quenching and as a lubricant, and could be used as edible oil and to make the famous spermaceti candles of fine dinner parties. It can be said that before the widespread use of petroleum, it was the most important fat product in the European world, and also another important source of wealth that Zheng Kezang carefully created for Taiwan besides white sugar and rock candy.

  A bloody scene soon unfolded, the massive body of the whale was dissected on the spot. The white fat was directly removed for refining; the fresh red meat, except for the best part which was prepared to be eaten on the spot, would be salted and stored as cured meat, still with some fat attached, the whale skin was carefully collected and set aside for later use in making leather; the whale bones were also preserved to be taken back and crushed into high-quality fertilizer; as for the whale teeth and whiskers, they could be used to make whips and tight-fitting clothes; only the entrails that required several refining processes were ordered by Captain Carl to be thrown into the sea to feed the bloodthirsty sharks.

  ??

  The deck was washed clean with seawater, and the sailors had finished eating whale meat that was even more tender than veal. The young sailors were chattering excitedly when Captain Karl, who had caught up with the distant whale pod, gave the order: "This afternoon, we will catch two more whales, this time with the reserve crew in charge."

  ??”

  The successive victories of the Zheng army in Zhangzhou made Emperor Kangxi extremely angry. As the emperor who loved "fame" the most throughout history, he could not bear to leave any stains on historical records. Therefore, he did not care about the great contributions that Lang Tingxiang and his son had made to the Qing dynasty. On the same day of the defeat at Zushan, he ordered the arrest of Lang Tingxiang and Yang Hui for trial in Beijing. After dismissing the highest administrative officials in Fujian, Kangxi appointed Yao Qisheng, the original Fujian governor, and Wu Xingzuo, the inspector, to temporarily take over the positions of Lang and Yang, reorganizing a large army to rescue Haicheng.

  The storm that swept through Beijing not only brought heavy pressure to the upper and lower reaches of Fujian, but also made the Guangdong side feel a chilling coolness. Shang Zhixin, who inherited the title of Prince Pingnan, turned his attention to defeating the Wu army and rebel generals who invaded the three prefectures of Gao, Lei, and Lian after failing to invade Qiongzhou by sea. As a result, he once caused the isolated army of General Mang Yitutu to be trapped in a bitter battle in Guangxi and was questioned by the Qing court. At this time, when things were going wrong, he had no choice but to send General Wang Guodong to lead troops to assist in the battle in Yizhang, Hunan, while he himself led his troops on a western expedition, attempting to defeat the rebel general Zou Zeqing's forces occupying Dianbai first, and then possibly marching south to Qiongya or west to Guangxi.

  "The meaning of 'regent grandson' is to let the old man send troops north to Leizhou to reinforce Zu Zeqing?" There is a saying that generals in the outside world have some things they don't accept, and Zheng Kezang is not even a ruler, yet he is far away in Dongning, but he stretches out his hand across the sea to Qiongzhou. If it were someone else, even if they didn't immediately turn against him, they might not necessarily accept his opinion. But Yang Xian was different, he had long recognized Zheng Kezang's certain talents.

  "Governor Yang, the descendant is not very clear about the situation in western Guangdong, but just wants Governor Yang to stir up the water a bit. As for whether to send troops directly to Leizhou or to Teng City, it's all up to Governor Yang himself." A messenger who came with the naval fleet repeated Zheng Kezang's words to Yang Xianfu. "Wu Sangui has submitted to the king in Hengzhou and changed the era name to Zhao Wu, which made the king very angry. The relationship between our vassal state and Wu's army is now clearly at odds, but no matter what, the current great enemy is the Qing army. If we are defeated by the Tartars one by one, it will be of no benefit to our vassal state's great cause."

  Yang Xian nodded, and before he could say anything, the messenger continued: "One thing is to ask Yang Laodong to send troops, another thing is that Wang Shang has surrounded the Qing army in Haicheng, but there is a shortage of food for the soldiers. Since Qionghai has three harvests a year, Shishun asks Yang Laodong to ensure that more military rations are prepared. For every additional part of Qionghai's military rations, Taiwan will be able to preserve one more share of its vitality."

  Zheng Kezang's words were ambiguous, but Yang Xian couldn't help but frown, originally wanting to ask something back but forcibly restrained himself. Yang Xian knew that the other party was just a messenger and didn't understand Zheng Kezang's true intentions. Since Zheng Kezang had already become pessimistic about the trend of the war, he could only cooperate.

  "Grain, troops, these are not a problem, but what about the transport ships?" Yang Xian stroked his white beard and pondered for half a day before raising a question. "If we only rely on the ships that were brought by the servants at first, as well as the few small boats of the Boy Scout Water Soldier Team, I'm afraid that even if you had prepared tens of thousands of stones of military rations, it's unlikely they could be transported in time."

  "Requesting Lord Yang to immediately memorialize the Emperor, ordering Zhu TianGui's naval forces from Nanao to enter Qingzhou and pledge allegiance."

  "Send troops to Southern Australia?" Yang Xian was shocked and repeated a sentence. "This, this is who instigated the Regent!"

  Don't blame Yang Xian for being surprised, Nan'ao Island is located at the intersection of Guangdong, Fujian and Taiwan provinces, known as "Tidal Barrier, Throat of Min-Yue" and "Gateway to China's Southeastern Coastal Defense". Since the Wanli period, there has been a deputy general of coastal defense. In December 1647, after Zhu Sheng's father Zheng Zhilong defected to the Qing dynasty, he moved his troops to Nan'ao Island, making it his last base. Later, during the frequent battles against the Qing and preparing for the recovery of Taiwan over a decade, Zhu Sheng repeatedly visited Nan'ao Island, deploying troops, training soldiers, and maneuvering naval forces. Twice, he escorted Emperor Zhu Yihai to the island, staying for more than four years, making it a sacred place in the hearts of Zheng's army. Although Zhu Jin had abandoned Nan'ao Island after Qu Xian surrendered, since Zheng's army returned to the mainland, an elite naval force has been stationed there, and Zheng Keshuang started thinking about this force.

  "Please, General Yang, do not be impatient," the envoy said calmly. "The 28th Waterborne Brigade and other units are indeed heavily tasked with defending South Australia and Tongshan (Dongshan Island in Zhangzhou), but at this moment, the Qing army's Guangdong water force has been completely destroyed, and the Fujian water force is being held back on the Dinghai front line. The fate of our province hangs in the balance after the battle of Haicheng. How can we justify leaving such a strong force idle?" Seeing General Yang's expression ease slightly, the envoy continued. "Moreover, the intention of the Regent is to dispatch some civilian ships and cargo ships, as well as a small number of warships for escort, without undermining its fundamental strength."

  "No," Yang Xian suddenly shook his head, he intuitively felt that Zheng Kezang's intention to mobilize the Nan'ao garrison was not as simple as what the envoy said. "No, if it were just a matter of summoning civilian ships and cargo ships, Yuanzi could have directly petitioned the king himself, why did he have to go through me?" Yang Xian suddenly guessed something, staring at the envoy with his eyes wide open. "What does the Regent mean? Impossible, impossible, Zhu TianGui is also a veteran minister of this province."

  "Yang Lao Da Ren is thinking too much," the messenger chuckled. "The Regent did not say anything."

  "Is that so?" Yang Xian fell into deep thought, and it wasn't until after a long while that he lifted his head. "Never mind, I'll trouble you to present this memorial to the Emperor on my behalf. As they say, 'one thing shouldn't bother two masters'."

  "Hello!"