Emperor Zhengde of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 171

Zhu Houzhao was sitting on the warship Zheng Hebao of the Ming Dynasty, and his spirits were high. It turned out that the trip to sea would last seven or eight days.

During the time at sea, the Ministry of Industry had a deeper understanding of the Ming Dynasty Navy.

On the ninth day, Zhu Houzhao finally returned to Tanggukou.

This time inspecting the Ming Navy, Zhu Houzhao was full of confidence and high spirits.

Along the way, except for some fishermen and merchants from the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese did not see a single pirate or Japanese pirate.

It seems that the Ming Navy still has a great deterrent effect on them!
In fact, the Ming Navy was more than just a real force to them, these officers and soldiers of Ming Dynasty strangled these pirates and Japanese pirates like devils.

When they saw the pirates and Japanese pirates, they directly pointed the black guns at them.

Zhu Houzhao looked at the time, and it was not far away from the day when he would leave the palace. He would spend more than 20 days playing and inspecting the sea, which made him still a little unfinished.

However, these ministers in the court immediately want him to return to the capital, after all, the court cannot be without a master for a day.

Zhu Houzhao has been away from the capital for so long, which has made the cabinet very worried.

Outside the entrance of Tanggu, Zhu Houzhao glanced at the majestic navy and said, "Qi Aiqing!"

"Chen is here!"

"I leave my navy to you!"

Qi Jingtong cupped his hands and said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will definitely make the Ming Navy stronger and stronger!"

After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao nodded with satisfaction, "I trust you, and I believe you will be able to give me a satisfactory answer in the future."

"Thank you for your affirmation! I will definitely live up to your majesty's expectations."

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said: "You said in the memorial that Shen Wanqian went to Nanyang, and I have never been to that place, but I don't know if he will run away?"

"If this gets away, you will lose a lot!"

Qi Jingtong cupped his hands and said: "If you go back to His Majesty, I have already predicted that Shen Wanqian will never run away and never return, not to mention that his family members are still in this continent, and even all the dependent countries around here, they dare not Take it in.”

"If he hides in other countries, once we find out, the kings of those countries will consciously catch him and bring him to us, because they are all scared by my Ming Dynasty, and they all hope to make friends with our Ming Dynasty. Therefore, my minister It is concluded that Shen Wanqian will never stay in a foreign country!"

"Oh, is my Ming Dynasty navy so powerful?" Zhu Houzhao was overjoyed to hear that. This was a joy from the bottom of his heart, because he personally witnessed the power of the Ming Dynasty navy.

"Yes, I have this confidence."

"Report!"

While Zhu Houzhao was talking to Qi Jingtong, a man with the appearance of a general in heavy armor walked over in three steps at a time, knelt down on one knee, and said to Zhu Houzhao and Qi Jingtong with clasped fists, "Your Majesty, sir! Handsome, at a distance of [-] nautical miles from our navy, we found a few warships, which seem to be heading towards us, and they are very fast!"

"Get up and explore again!"

"Yes!"

Zhu Houzhao originally planned to return to the capital after explaining this meeting to Qi Jingtong. After all, it took too long to come out, but when he heard the report, his heart skipped a beat. Based on his obsession with the military, he could have estimated it. partner enemy.

"Wait! Come back!"

Zhu Houzhao waved his hands and said to the spy: "Go and find out the truth about the other party, and see how many cannons they have? How many people?"

"Yes!"

The spy was probably one of Qi Jingtong's generals, after hearing Zhu Houzhao's order, he immediately got up and walked outside without looking back.

"Qi Aiqing, in my opinion, the pirates coming here must be a group of pirates. They are greedy for our Ming Dynasty's supplies. They probably have their eyes on the Zheng He treasure ship and came to rob it."

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he glanced at Qi Jingtong with squinted eyes.

Qi Jingtong cupped his hands and said, "According to Your Majesty, do we need to form an army right now?"

Zhu Houzhao looked confident, walked to the top of the deck with his hands behind his back and looked forward, and there were indeed a few black shadows flickering in the distance.

Not long after, the spy just now was panting again, ran over quickly, still knelt on one knee and said to Zhu Houzhao and Qi Jingtong: "Your Majesty Qizuo, Commander, there is a group of pirates ahead, and the other party has twenty warships. There are probably more than 300 people, but judging from their clothes, most of them look like Japanese pirates, with steel knives in their hands."

"Every ship has three-eyed guns and cannons, and the speed of the ships is very fast, and they are directly aimed at our treasure ship Zheng He."

After hearing this, Qi Jingtong immediately cupped his hands and said to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, for the sake of safety, please return to the barracks quickly, and I will meet the enemy myself!"

After Zhu Houzhao listened, his face showed a very unhappy expression. The face that had been smiling just now turned gloomy.

Qi Jingtong still didn't understand Zhu Houzhao.

"I have been familiar with military books since I was a child, how can I be afraid of such a group of pirates?"

"Besides, when I listened to the spies' report for the first time just now, I already guessed that they are a group of pirates. Are you still worried that I can't deal with them?"

In fact, in Zhu Houzhao's heart, he still wanted to lead troops to fight these pirates head-on. However, this is the navy after all, and there is not much certainty of victory. It is better to fight steadily.

"Pass my order, the whole army will immediately enter into a state of martial law, ready to listen to my order at any time, and launch an attack on the pirates!"

Qi Jingtong wiped the sweat from his forehead. He never dreamed that His Majesty would be so fond of taking credit for other people's achievements, and his ability to deploy troops was no less than his.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Qi Jingtong quickly clapped his hands and finished his answer, then bowed and retreated.

Around Zhu Houzhao, Cao Zhengchun has behaved a lot these days. Since he was punished by Zhu Houzhao in the palace last time, he has become much quieter this time when he goes out.

Not long after, Qi Jingtong arranged the people at each sentry post, especially in terms of artillerymen, and increased the deployment.

Zhu Houzhao was very proud of himself. It was the first time for him to face so many naval forces and command them to fight. He really felt like a general!

He stood on the deck and did not go to the military camp. He just hoped that the pirate ship would come over soon so that he could show them some colors.

Several civil officials standing beside him, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Liang Chu, Li Suide and others, as well as several eunuchs such as Cao Zhengchun, all sweated for Zhu Houzhao. After all, this was their first time out of the palace. Going to sea once, if something happened to the Emperor Zhengde, it would be difficult to explain.

However, none of the ministers dared to come over to remonstrate, because when Qi Jingtong was speaking just now, they were all watching Zhu Houzhao's face. There must be no good results.

This is more than a year of experience, and these ministers and eunuchs all understand each other tacitly.

(End of this chapter)