Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 362: Han People Are Not Slaves

On this day, at dawn, Zhu Houzhao had just gotten up and practiced Tai Chi when he saw Li Tianchong running over with sweat all over his forehead. "Your Majesty, a large number of Japanese pirates have appeared ten miles outside the city. The prefect Zhang Juzheng has ordered the people to be evacuated, and the various units of the Imperial Guard have been ordered to attack!"

Zhu Houzhao did not speak at first. It was only after he finished practicing Tai Chi that he took the handkerchief from the eunuch and wiped his hands: "I am finally here. Tell Qi Jiguang to teach these pirates a lesson and not let any of them go!"

"Follow the decree."

Li Tianchong bowed and left.

Zhu Houzhao also returned to the nanmu chair and sat down. Looking at the ivy under the white wall, he couldn't help but smile. Being in the big house, it was naturally difficult to hear the noise of gunfire.

Therefore, he could not help but order the preparation of a sedan chair and go to the city gate to check on the so-called Japanese pirates.

The Japanese pirates did come well prepared this time.

A full five thousand people!
The leader was the Japanese Ji Tian, ​​who personally led 5,000 Japanese pirates and was determined to capture the prosperous city of Ningbo in one fell swoop. They looted for three days and captured the legendary Emperor Zhengde.

Ji Tian was wearing what looked like a very strange warrior outfit.

If civilians saw this, they would be frightened even if they didn't fight.

Although he was the leader of the Japanese pirates, the clothes under his samurai outfit were obviously very simple, not as wealthy as the middle class people in the Ming Dynasty.

The same thing went for the other Japanese pirates, they all looked very crude, but precisely because of this, in the eyes of Zhu Houzhao and the Ming army, they looked more like a group of battle-hardened and extremely vicious bandits.

Ji Tian looked at Ningbo City arrogantly and spoke a long string of incomprehensible words.

At the same time, he led the Japanese pirates under his command to hunt down the Ming people outside the city.

In their eyes, these Ming people who are dressed gorgeously, unaware of hunger and the ferocity of swords are the fattest lambs.

"Kill Jiji!"

Ji Tian rushed over with a group of Japanese pirates. They ran very fast, like jackals, and they had experience in besieging civilians. After charging for a while, they surrounded a group of civilians. Then, a leading Japanese pirate surrounded these Ming people.

These Japanese pirates knew that their mission was to capture Ningbo City, so except for a few who were responsible for massacring civilians, the other main forces of the Japanese pirates continued to move forward.

The remaining Japanese pirates had no energy to plunder the Ming people, so they simply took out their butcher knives and prepared to kill them all, with the aim of creating panic and intimidating the Ming army in Ningbo City.

At this time, a Japanese pirate named Xin Liulang raised his Japanese sword and prepared to chop at the Ming child who was lying on the ground and had no time to run away. Before chopping, he kicked the child directly into a puddle, and then raised his sword and chopped directly at the child's head.

boom!
A gunshot rang out.

Wang Wu, a soldier of the Ming Dynasty's Imperial Guard, arrived here in time and accurately hit the Japanese pirate's head from a hundred steps away.

The Japanese pirate named Xin Wulang was killed on the spot!

The other Japanese pirates were naturally furious when they saw this, and they picked up their Japanese swords and slashed at Wang Wu.

There were about a dozen Japanese pirates in total. These pirates were also quite well-trained. They were holding knives and rushing towards Wang Wu in a fan-shaped manner. It was obvious that they knew that Wang Wu had a firearm and they dispersed and charged.

Wang Wu was the only one in this area. Because there were not many officers and soldiers who came with Zhu Houzhao, Qi Jiguang only sent a battalion of vanguards to sweep away the Japanese pirates in order to protect the Ming people living in the towns and villages outside the city.

However, Wang Wu was not afraid of these dozen Japanese pirates, because he was holding a bolt-action breech-loading rifle, and the gunpowder he used was the latest developed smokeless gunpowder, which could prevent smoke from affecting his shooting vision.

Moreover, the modern rifle was extremely easy to operate. Wang Wu skillfully killed the two Japanese pirates on the left and right sides in front of him, and then threw a grenade backwards, instantly breaking the leg of a Japanese pirate who was running from behind.

However, these Japanese pirates were indeed warriors. They were not afraid of death and continued to rush towards Wang Wu. Wang Wu squatted on the ground and killed three of them. Then he threw another grenade to kill one.

The remaining three Japanese pirates were stunned, and Wang Wu took the opportunity to shoot one of them!
Immediately, Wang Wu continued to pull the bolt skillfully and killed another Japanese pirate again. Seeing this, the last Japanese pirate had to run away.

Wang Wu did not shoot again, but chased after him. The Japanese pirate accidentally fell to the ground, and Wang Wu cut off his head without hesitation.

at the same time.

"Kill Jiji!"

In another place outside Ningbo City, a dozen Japanese pirates who were trying to create panic saw a group of Ming civilians, and they were women, rushing towards them excitedly with Japanese swords in hand.

At this time, another sergeant of the Imperial Guard, Sun Jiu, arrived with his soldiers. They immediately protected the people who were preparing to go to the market in the town behind them, squatted on the ground and started shooting.

The sound of gunfire crackled.

The brave Japanese pirates could only be shot to death in front of the Ming Dynasty's rifles.

Every shot is fatal!

Shoot to kill!

After killing more than ten Japanese pirates, Sun Jiu and other officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty Imperial Guard continued to patrol, specifically hunting down small groups of Japanese pirates that attempted to create panic.

at this time.

Ji Tian had already led his main force of Japanese pirates towards the outside of Ningbo City.

Moreover, Ji Tian saw that there were still people coming in and out outside Ningbo City, and even vendors hawking their wares at the city gate. He couldn't help but feel very proud, thinking that his army had indeed achieved the goal of swift action, so that the city of Ningbo now had no time to prepare.

"Kill Jiji!"

Ji Tian immediately led his main force of Japanese pirates to rush towards Ningbo City. However, as soon as Ji Tian led a large number of Japanese pirates to rush towards Ningbo City, the people at the city gate immediately fled in all directions, and they fled very quickly. The purpose of Ji Tian and his Japanese pirates was to rush into the city, so naturally they did not care about these people and rushed into the city.

But when he rushed into the city wall, Ji Tian found that the city gates were closed quickly and orderly.

at the same time.

The people who were outside the city at first immediately took out their rifles at designated locations and surrounded the city gate in three directions.

Qi Jiguang also emerged from the city wall with Ming soldiers. Then he waved his hand and 500 guns immediately started shooting. The crackling sound of bullets frying the Japanese pirates like frying peas!

In addition, grenades were thrown down, which caused a huge explosion.

Ji Tian knew that he had fallen into a trap: "Damn it, this Ming guy named Cao Cai! What the hell is he doing!" While cursing in his heart, Ji Tian immediately fled with the remaining soldiers.

At this time, the Ming army, which was waiting at the city gate, immediately opened fire. On that day, all the more than 3,000 Japanese pirates outside Ningbo were killed!

Zhu Houzhao looked at these Japanese pirates coldly and ordered: "Prepare cement, cut off the heads of all the Japanese pirates, and build a Jingguan at the lighthouse outside Ningbo Port to commemorate this achievement!"

Click!

Click!

Click!

Just like chopping melons and vegetables, the heads of these Japanese pirates were chopped off one after another. Some of the Japanese pirates were not dead, but were just injured, but they also had to be chopped off, so they screamed when they were chopped.

Zhu Houzhao listened to the sporadic screams with genuine satisfaction as if he were listening to a piece of music. He believed that only in the Ming Dynasty under his rule could such sounds that demonstrated the majesty of China be heard. In the original history, this rich land would only be filled with the wailing of the people of the Ming Dynasty.

At this moment, only the Japanese pirates were wailing. This was undoubtedly the greatest significance created by his coming to the Ming Dynasty.

Buzz!

A long whistle sounded.

The ironclad battleship "Chengdu" from Songjiang Prefecture anchored at Ningbo Port. Zhu Houzhao boarded this warship which was specially used as his own imperial ship. Looking at the frozen Ningbo Port, he did not give the order to sail for a long time. Only nearby merchant ships set sail and anchored in the port one after another.

The Japanese pirates from Shuangyu Island and other islands failed to attack Ningbo City. The morning light in Ningbo City still looked peaceful and harmonious.

Zhu Houzhao breathed in the sweet air and waved his hand.

The "Chengdu" then set sail. The black ironclad warship split the waves like a heavy black iron sword and headed towards Shuangyu Island.

The reason why Zhu Houzhao went to Shuangyu Island was naturally that he wanted to see with his own eyes the port developed by smugglers, the so-called free port.

Zhu Houzhao had no intention of destroying Shuangyu Island. After all, Shuangyu Island should now be considered the wealth of the empire, right?

Zhu Houzhao decided to turn Shuangyu Island into a real free port that would be in the interests of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, the free port in Zhu Houzhao's eyes is certainly not the so-called free port where smugglers are concentrated today.

Therefore, even if Shuangyu Island is to become a free port managed by the imperial court, all invaders on the island should be executed!
……

Feddes decided to proclaim himself the governor of Shuangyu Island. He had already learned that his country had been destroyed by the Ming Dynasty, which made him extremely angry. He even came up with the idea of ​​using Shuangyu Island as a base to expand his army and restore his country.

"Master Li, as long as you are willing to help me restore the Portuguese Empire, I will make you a duke and a noble of our Portuguese royal family!"

Feddes couldn't help but say to the big pirate Li Guangtou.

Li Guangtou smiled and said, "Sir Feddes, let's talk about it after Ji Tian comes back. If you can help me become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I can make you a noble in my Middle Earth!"

Baldy Li burst into laughter as he spoke. No one knew that he was laughing at his own wishful thinking as well as Feddes' wishful thinking.

However, at this moment, another pirate leader Xu Dong came running with several Japanese pirates: "Boss Li, and Governor Feddes, something bad has happened, the government troops are here, and they have surrounded us!"

Li Guangtou's expression became serious: "Is Ji Tian back?"

"Not yet. The people I sent out only found many government troops, but did not see Ji Tian's ship."

This is what Xu Dong said.

"What can we do!"

Baldy Li had just finished speaking when there was a loud bang. An ironclad warship of the Ming Dynasty, the Quanzhou, fired a howitzer directly at Baldy Li, sending him and a newly anchored warship behind him into the sky, and they were reduced to ashes and wood chips in an instant.

At this time, Xu Dong and Feddes were deafened and could not react for a while.

In fact, none of the smugglers on the entire Shuangyu Island reacted.

The Ming Dynasty's ironclad warships came into play again, and the howitzers fired shells again, directly destroying the smugglers' coastal defense facilities. Immediately afterwards, the ironclad ships violently rammed the warships of the Japanese pirates and fired directly at the barracks built by the Portuguese here. Some Portuguese who did not have time to escape were all blown away.

At the same time, countless landing ships rushed in and the Ming army had begun to land on the beach.

By the time Zhu Houzhao arrived at Shuangyu Island, the sea surface near the entire Shuangyu Island was filled with only billowing smoke and sporadic gunshots.

Zhu Houzhao looked at these densely packed houses, even some tall churches and gardens, and for a moment he had to admit how powerful the gentry groups behind the pirates and Japanese pirates on Shuangyu Island were. They had managed to create such a prosperous port through smuggling over the years.

When Zhu Houzhao landed on Shuangyu Island, all the residents on the island had been detained and forced to kneel down before him.

Zhu Houzhao looked at these people and felt they were unfamiliar.

Because these people did not have the same sincere respect for him as the emperor in their eyes as the scholars and common people in the mainland.

This made Zhu Houzhao very angry. He even wanted to question these people. He, as the emperor, had already opened the sea, provided low-interest loans and strong national strength to encourage them to go out to sea to do business and make money. Why did they still violate the law and engage in smuggling trade! Why did they go against the entire court? !

Zhu Houzhao could see that some of these residents were very rich. They were dressed very gorgeously, with all kinds of gems on their hands. Even their inlaid teeth were golden. They were also very fat, as if they could squeeze out thousands of pounds of oil.

But these people were a minority. Many residents were very poor. They wore straw sandals, had no clothes to cover their bodies, had unkempt hair and dirty faces, and knelt on the ground shivering in the cold.

"The military discipline of the government troops is very good, and you are also a good leader!"

Zhu Houzhao said this first, and then asked Zhu Wan: "According to you, the scale of smuggling on Shuangyu Island is more than 3 million silver dollars a year, but why are most of these residents still so poor?"

"Reporting to your Majesty, they are Han people who were sold here by human traffickers from some noble families in the inland coastal areas. They are slave laborers here, responsible for transporting goods. They have no rest all day and no pay, so they are naturally poor. If they die of exhaustion, they will be thrown directly into the sea. However, if they are religious believers, they don't have to be slave laborers anymore," Zhu Wan said, pointing to the church in front.

Zhu Houzhao nodded and looked coldly at these smuggling pirates and Japanese pirates in gorgeous clothes and many Westerners. He realized that this might be a resistance of the gentry class to his equality in the country, so they turned Shuangyu Island into a paradise for capitalists to live freely, where they could ignore the laws they had drafted and enslave others at will as before, including the Han people of the Ming Dynasty.

Because Shuangyu Island is close to the mainland, naturally there are more Han people available, so now there are the largest number of Han slave laborers on the entire Shuangyu Island.

"All those who have enslaved the Han people will be driven to the seaside to build a larger port. No matter if they were Han, Japanese, or Westerners, they will all be considered Japanese pirates. When reporting to the court, write this down: All these Japanese pirate captives must serve until they die of exhaustion!

In addition, interrogate them carefully and find out which nobles are the supporters behind them. All of these nobles who are colluding with the Japanese will be exiled here as slaves!"

Zhu Houzhao gave the order in a cold voice, showing unprecedented cruelty. He didn't understand how they could make their compatriots enslaved, but because of this, he was now forced to do so.

(End of this chapter)