My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 371 How do you know everything?

"Lv Mingda, you have a good reputation, but you don't look Chinese. Tell me, where are you from and what is your relationship with Chen Zuyi?"

In the makeshift interrogation room, Xu Da sat behind the desk and slammed the gavel hard, almost scaring the lieutenant general who was preparing to take notes.

On both sides of the interrogation room, there was a wooden rack on one side, which was hung with various makeshift torture instruments, and on the other side, there was a stove filled with red-hot coals and a red-hot iron in the stove.

Standing behind Xu Da were Li Wenzhong and Tang He. Xu Da wanted to interrogate the pirates himself, and the two men were just following him to watch the fun.

In their eyes at this moment, Xu Da was like the county magistrate, especially the force with which Xu Da banged the gavel, which was simply too aggressive.

This made the two of them wonder whether Xu Da was often invited by the county magistrate to the yamen before the rebellion, otherwise why was he so familiar with this business process?

As for Xu Da, he still thought he was quite powerful at this time. He had learned some interrogation techniques from Mao Xiang. After drifting on the sea for such a long time, he could finally have a good time today.

In front of the desk, Lu Mingda was tied to an iron frame. His body was covered in blood and he looked like he had been tortured. He really looked like a criminal.

When Xu Da spoke, he raised his eyelids, then spat fiercely on the ground, opened his mouth and started talking a lot of gibberish that no one could understand.

"What is this kid saying?"

Zhu Di picked up the red-hot iron bar, shook it in front of Lu Mingda in a pretentious manner, and said to Xu Da:
"Coach, this kid doesn't speak human language. Do you want to teach him a lesson?"

Lu Mingda looked at Zhu Di and said a lot of excited gibberish. Although Zhu Di could not understand what he said, he was sure that this guy was scolding him.

"Hey, boy, I wonder if you are itching for something."

Zhu Di narrowed his eyes, but was stopped by Tang He.

"Old Four, be patient, this guy is just pretending. The other pirates have already confessed that he can speak Chinese!"

"Damn you, these bastards are a bunch of traitors, so shameless!"

Lu Mingda cursed viciously, but this time he used Chinese. Although his accent sounded strange, everyone could still understand him.

Since the Ming army officer in front of him knew that he could speak Chinese, there was no point in pretending any longer.

"Lü Mingda, a native of Luzon, was a general under Chen Zuyi. He mainly operated in Luzon Island and Malacca. He robbed countless ships and killed countless merchants and travelers. According to the Ming Dynasty law, a sentence of lingchi would be considered light!"

Xu Da said slowly, "Tell me where Chen Zuyi is now, where is his lair, how many ships and soldiers he has, if you tell me the truth, maybe I can consider giving you a quick death!"

This was the interrogation tactic Xu Da learned from Mao Xiang. The most important method of interrogation was not torture, but to completely defeat the prisoner's psychology. He remembered this clearly.

Mao Xiang also told him that when talking to prisoners, he must tell one truth and nine lies, that is, mix lies with the truth and the lies with the truth, so that the prisoners cannot understand your true intentions at all.

Mao Xiang taught everything he knew to the powerful Duke of Wei, and Xu Da also learned a lot from him.

For example, in the series of questions he asked Lu Mingda at this time, he naturally knew clearly where Chen Zuyi's lair was. Everyone in the room knew it, and everyone also had a rough idea of ​​how many soldiers and ships there were. However, the specific location of Chen Zuyi now was something that really needed to be figured out.

Therefore, mixing what is known and what is unknown together in the questions makes it difficult for Lu Mingda to understand what the real purpose of Xu Da's asking these questions is.

"Bah! I will never betray the Marshal!" Lu Mingda glared at Xu Da and said viciously.

It’s not that he and Chen Zuyi are good brothers and have a sense of loyalty, but as one of the core figures of Chen Zuyi’s pirate group, his family is in Chen Zuyi’s hands.

The purpose of Chen Zuyi doing this was to prevent his subordinates from rebelling one day.

Moreover, he still had a glimmer of hope in his heart. Among the surviving pirates, he was the only one who knew the detailed information about Chen Zuyi. As long as he didn't tell it out, he still had hope of survival.

The Ming army would certainly not take his life so easily. Chen Zuyi's intelligence was the key for him to control the Ming army and survive!

"Have the guts!"

Xu Da was not annoyed, but laughed out loud, "Do you think we don't know all this? What a pity, I gave you the opportunity but you didn't use it!"

Lu Mingda was stunned for a moment, then he also laughed out loud, "I know you guys are cunning, you want to cheat me? No way!"

He was confident that Xu Da was simply deceiving him. From Luzon to Malacca and even Srivijaya, there were many islands and complex terrain. Not to mention the Ming army that had come from thousands of miles away, even the locals could not figure out how many islands and kingdoms there were here.

"It seems you don't believe it. It's okay. You will cry later!"

As he spoke, Xu Da winked at Li Wenzhong, who understood, picked up a nautical chart, and walked up to Lu Mingda.

"Take a good look, what is this!"

When Lu Mingda opened his eyes, he was stunned and broke out in a cold sweat.

Is this... a nautical chart of Malacca?

Not only that, it also clearly indicates the distribution of power of Chen Zuyi's pirate gang, Luzon Island, Johor, Temasek... and even Sumatra Island!

This, this, how is it possible? I’m afraid even Chen Zuyi himself may not know it so clearly?

You should know that many pirate forces act under the name of Chen Zuyi, and in the end they only have to hand over a few percent of the profits.

Seeing that Lu Mingda's face was becoming more and more ugly and his expression was becoming more and more shocked, Xu Da knew that this guy's psychological defenses were beginning to collapse.

"Chen Zuyi, originally from Guangdong, Ming Dynasty, fled to the West with his family in the first year of Hongwu, and then became a bandit, becoming a famous pirate in Malacca!"

Xu Da stood up, looked at Lu Mingda's increasingly ugly face, and said slowly: "So in the first year of Hongwu, where did Chen Zuyi escape to in the West? In my opinion, Chen Zuyi's family was not smart. They didn't know how to escape far away, but settled down in the vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. That place is Srivijaya. Am I right?
Lu Mingda!"

Lu Mingda was shocked. He didn't expect that these Ming people knew everything!

Suddenly, he thought of a very frightening possibility. These Ming troops were riding on this giant ironclad ship and were almost fully armed. They did not look like a caravan going on business at all.

Could it be that...they came to Malacca just for Chen Zuyi?
However, Chen Zuyi had occupied Srivijaya for many years, and his strength was so powerful that it was unimaginable. How dare these Ming troops attack Srivijaya with only six ships?

(End of this chapter)