When the official ship arrived at the mouth of Dasheng Bay, it was stopped by a patrolling gunboat.
Although the ship was flying the flag of Kunshan County Government, Xishan Island was not under the jurisdiction of Kunshan County, but was the property of Jiangnan Company.
Although the defenders on the island are still operating under the banner of the Kunshan Gunner Battalion to the outside world, they have changed their name internally to the "Jiangnan Company Security Brigade."
In addition to the name change, the composition of this army also underwent tremendous changes.
After completing 50 days of recruit training, Jinke divided the original gunner battalion into two and sent Tong Zigong and 100 gunners back to Kunshan to recruit new recruits for training and form the de facto second gunner battalion.
The remaining 300 gunmen, together with 100 veterans of the Qi Family Army and 300 miners supported by the Beijing Xishan Company, formed a security brigade of 700 people.
The brigade was composed of four squadrons, one of which consisted of 200 elite personnel, responsible for protecting the most important North Island.
Because Jiangnan Building Materials Company, Jiangnan Cement Plant, Security Brigade Headquarters, and Dashengwan Wharf are all on the North Island.
The second squadron has 100 people and is responsible for the central island, mainly responsible for the security of the Jiangnan Coal Mine.
The Third Brigade consists of 100 people and is responsible for the security of South Island, mainly the Jiangnan Quarry.
There is also a 200-man water squadron equipped with 50 gunboats, responsible for patrolling the waters around Xishan Island.
The captain is Jin Ke, manager of the security department of Xishan Company, and the four squadron leaders are all from the Qi family military flag, which is actually a waste of talent.
Each squadron consisted of ten to twenty squads. The captains were all veterans of the Qi Family Army, and they could suppress both the original gunners from Kunshan County and the miners coming from the north to support them.
As the saying goes, a bird cannot fly without a head, and an animal cannot survive without a head. With former Qi family soldiers as leaders and a salary twice as high as before, the security brigade quickly completed the transformation and got into shape, and was very meticulous in both training and patrolling.
Compared with the loose and fragmented regular army of the Ming Dynasty, they are already considered elite.
~~
When the official ship was led to the dock, Dianshi Xiong saw Master Zhao, wearing a gauze hat and a white shirt, already standing on the pier waiting for them.
Secretary Ma held an umbrella for the young master, Hua Bozheng and Jin Ke stood on his left and right, and behind them were twenty burly men wearing black samurai robes, cowhide boots, wrist guards and carrying Japanese swords.
It is so majestic that people dare not approach it.
These are Mr. Zhao’s personal guards, all of them are men from Caijia Lane.
There is also a squadron of security guards wearing khaki uniforms outside the area, responsible for perimeter surveillance.
Such a domineering display was not what Mr. Zhao wanted, but he had offended too many powerful people recently.
Therefore, his father and the senior executives of Jiangnan Company unanimously decided to upgrade Zhao Hao's security to the highest standard.
Seeing this exaggerated scene, Xiong Dianshi felt that it was as it should be. This was the style that a young man from the south of the Yangtze River who could suppress Xu from Huating on the left and Xu from Jinling on the right should have.
Without waiting for the step to be lowered, he jumped off the boat, bowed deeply to Zhao Hao, and said, "Sir, I am glad to have fulfilled my mission."
“Hahaha, Uncle Xiong, you’ve worked hard along the way.” Zhao Hao smiled and helped him up, saying, “Sorry, sorry, I just remembered later that I didn’t give you a little more funding. You must have suffered, right?”
"Fortunately, I met Captain Yu Jia." Xiong Dianshi smiled bitterly and thought to himself that he had indeed forgotten.
"Oh? Uncle Yu." Zhao Hao slapped his forehead and said, "I forgot to ask you to go find him. Oh, and there are Magistrate Zhang, Second Brother Hua, and Lord Hai. I actually have quite a few connections in Nanjing."
"..."Xiong Dianshi's forehead was full of black lines. What's the point of talking after the fact now?
Young Master Zhao also felt that he had been sorry for Old Xiong, so he changed the subject awkwardly and said, "By the way, where is our young master?"
"Master, the person is here!" Now it was the turn of Wang Bantou and the three constables to show their faces in front of the master. The four of them sandwiched Xu Bangning, who was tied up, in the middle and escorted him off the boat very professionally.
"Haha, young master, we meet again."
Zhao Hao smiled as he looked at Xu Bangning who was tied up like a dumpling.
Last year at Wei Ji Xian, Master Zhao was still very weak, and although the young master came to apologize, he did not dare to humiliate him too much.
Thinking back on it afterwards, Young Master Zhao always felt deeply regretful, and now the opportunity to make up for his regret has finally come...
"Hey, why aren't you talking?" He lifted Xu Bangning's chin with the handle of his fan and said with a teasing smile, "Weren't you quite bold when you destroyed my Kunshan dike? Why are you acting like a grandson now?"
"Zhao!" Xu Bangning's face turned pale and blue, and he finally swallowed the dirty words that were about to come out of his mouth, lowered his head and admitted his weakness:
"Mr. Zhao, I was confused for a moment. Please forgive me and let me go, just treat me as a fart."
"Oh, you are quite sensible." Zhao Hao couldn't help but laugh, "But it's useless for me to forgive you. I need the approval of 300,000 Kunshan people."
As he said this, he instructed Xiong Dianshi, "We will arrange a public trial at the section of the dike he destroyed to see what everyone thinks."
"The people must hope to build him into a cement pier and place him on the embankment for people to spit on and serve as a warning to others!" said Xiong Dianshi murderously.
"Well, that's quite creative." Zhao Hao laughed.
Xu Bangning was so frightened that his face turned green. At this moment, he finally remembered that his elder brother was here, and hurriedly turned around and shouted, "Brother, save me."
"Oh." Then an older man, who looked somewhat like Xu Bangning, also came down from the boat. He bowed deeply to Zhao Hao, then leaned over and knelt in front of him in public.
"I am Xu Bangrui. I apologize to Master Zhao and the elders of Kunshan on behalf of my brother."
Zhao Hao didn't dare let him kneel for long. After Xu Pengju died in two years, this man would be the real Duke of Wei and was trusted by two generations of kings. However, he couldn't make enemies with him easily.
He quickly helped Xu Bangrui up with both hands and said, "Brother, why are you doing this? You are you and he is him. You don't have to suffer humiliation for this sinner."
Xu Bangrui felt relieved when he heard this, thinking that Mr. Zhao valued the relationship and did not confuse me with Xu Bangning.
It seems that it was a wise decision for me to let Xiaozhi become my disciple.
He stood up with a grateful look on his face and said, "I am ashamed. It is unfortunate for our family to have such a bad thing happen to us. My father was so angry that he almost died. He specially ordered me to escort him here, and let you decide his fate."
After a pause, Xu Bangrui said, "In addition, our Xu family is willing to compensate ten times the damage this fellow caused to your county."
"Ah, Duke Wei really understands the big picture. No wonder he is a role model for nobles all over the world and has been favored by the emperor for fifty years." Zhao Hao smiled and complimented Xu Pengju again.
"Thank you for your magnanimity, young master." Xu Bangrui was completely relieved now. As long as Zhao Hao didn't bother his father, he could do whatever he wanted with his brother.
"Come on, let's go into the camp and talk." Zhao Hao cordially invited Xu Bangrui to the military camp and said, "If I had known you were coming, I would have asked Xiao Zhi to come along."
"I am so lucky to be accepted as a disciple by you, young master. It is really a great blessing from heaven." Xu Bangrui said this sincerely and almost said that it was my blessing as well.
p.s. Sorry, I’m getting old and need to rest after going out. I can’t write today, so I’ll just update three times.