Ming East India Company

Zheng Jiong glanced guiltily at Bai Ling, who then walked up to the person in charge:

"My master cannot understand the Central Plains dialect, so I act as his interpreter to relay his messages."

Afterwards, Bai Ling pretended to have a conversation with Zheng Jiong in a language that no one could understand, called "bird language".

Then he said to the person in charge:

"The equipment! We've already brought it."

Immediately afterwards, the other members of the delegation behind him opened more than a dozen boxes.

Inside, it was filled with Japanese armor. I took them out and counted them; there were over a hundred suits of various sizes.

Bai Ling said to the dumbfounded Ministry of War official:

"These are the Japanese pirate armors we captured. Due to limited transport capacity, we only brought a portion of the intact ones this time. Many of them were missing arms or legs and we didn't bring them with us."

"As for the horses!" Bai Ling pointed to the dozen or so ponies that the delegation had brought:

"These are all spoils of war, all of them small horses unique to the Orient. Originally, we captured two or three hundred, but because it's not easy to transport horses by sea, we only brought this many. I imagine it wouldn't be easy to raise horses this small within the Ming Dynasty!"

The Ministry of War official looked at the horse, which was only up to a man's neck in height, and then at the dazzling array of armor in the box. He knew that the battle achievement was almost certain.

However, out of "resentment" towards the Eastern Depot, I still can't help but want to find fault:

"But what about your prisoners? Without prisoners, I'm afraid we can't report our victory!"

"I say, Master Zhang," De Luosigong, who was accompanying him, could no longer contain himself. The heavy spoils of the Ryukyu delegation had just brought him more and more excitement.

He had initially thought the Ryukyuans were either murdering innocent people to claim credit or forging heads, and he was very uneasy about this inspection, fearing that something would be found wrong with them.

But now it seems that the Ryukyuans are really good at fighting. I'm going to make a fortune this time. Now that the Ministry of War is picking on me like this, if I don't step in to protect my "sugar daddy", I'll be making trouble for myself.

"This Ryukyu delegation is not the Ming Dynasty's royal army, so how could they possibly know the Ming Dynasty's rules for reporting merits? Being able to produce armor with a severed head is enough to convince people."

If the person in charge still wants to find fault, then I, Luo Sigong, am willing to sign a military pledge to guarantee the mission. I can now request the Emperor to send another batch of prisoners. If they are not sent within three months, I, Luo Sigong, will cut off my own head and plead guilty to the Emperor.

However, if the Ryukyuans manage to send their heads, then I request that you, Master Zhang, be dismissed from your post and punished accordingly.

Luo Sigong's words had the desired effect. The officials from the Ministry of War dared not argue further. After whispering among themselves, they had no choice but to obediently produce an official document confirming that all the heads were genuine.

Meanwhile, Emperor Wanli in the palace was overjoyed upon receiving the results of the joint investigation by the Ministry of War and the Eastern Depot. It seemed the Ryukyuans had indeed not lied. He had once again gained a "great victory" out of thin air.

On one hand, his own family had been practicing false military intelligence to cover up their defeat and turn it into a victory; on the other hand, the Ryukyuans had traveled thousands of miles to launch a proactive "attack." Emperor Wanli couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment and frustration.

He then ordered that the Ryukyu delegation be entertained in the palace.

Led by a young eunuch in charge of receiving guests in the palace, Bai Ling and Zheng Jiong arrived at the xx Palace to meet Emperor Wanli.

On the way, Bai Ling secretly rejoiced. Luckily, Bai Ye had reminded her before setting off; otherwise, how could she have possibly passed such a "strict" inspection procedure?

At the banquet, Emperor Wanli inquired in detail about the "death" of Shang Yong and the enthronement of the new king, and also asked about the relationship between Ryukyu and Japan.

When Wanli heard that Ryukyu could participate in the war against the East and that he could be guaranteed to kill hundreds of heads every year, his face lit up.

For a long time, the "military achievements" presented to the outside world were a source of pride for the Wanli Emperor. This was because the Ming ruling group at this time had completely lost the ability to verify military achievements. The simple and crude method of judging military achievements by the number of heads taken became a very addictive method for the emperor and the chief minister of the cabinet.

Compared to the meager foreign war achievements during the Jiajing and Longqing periods, the number of enemy heads taken by the Ming Dynasty during the Wanli period saw a leap forward due to the presence of Li Chengliang, the "King of Scrolls".

This led Wanli to believe that his martial arts skills had "far surpassed those of his father and grandfather."

Therefore, Wanli was extremely excited when he heard that there would be another "head respawn point".

Of course, Wanli was not so easily fooled. In the end, although Wanli verbally accepted Bai Ling's conditions, he said he would send an envoy from the Ming Dynasty to investigate the matter before making a decision.

As expected by Luo Sigong, Wanli, the envoy sent on this mission, decided to select from among the eunuchs after the Ministry of War's "false report of military intelligence".

Upon hearing that he was going to Luo Sigong, he obtained the position without lifting a finger.

Before their return journey, the Ming Dynasty, as was customary, gave the Ryukyu delegation a return gift of 100,000 taels of silver and a "consolation payment" for the new king's ascension to the throne.

Luo Sigong, as the "envoy for investiture" and military supervisor, accompanied the delegation back to Ryukyu.

Overjoyed at the prospect of his upcoming "military achievements," Luo Sigong quickly went to Bai Ling's residence to discuss the delegation's return.

"Your Highness, I have already planned the return route. We will travel south along the Grand Canal. His Majesty has granted us special permission to requisition returning cargo ships. In this way, we can reach Yangzhou in half a month at most, and then return to Fuzhou in another half month."

Bai Ling shook her head:

"I've finally come all the way to the Ming Dynasty, how could I possibly go back without seeing this wonderful world of the Ming?"

Listen to me, take the land route back to Fuzhou. If transferring large groups of people or heavy cargo is inconvenient, you can return by water first.

Having already boarded the pirate ship, Luo Sigong dared not offend his sugar daddy and had no choice but to agree.

After seeing Luo Sigong off, Bai Ling returned to her bedroom and opened her underwear. A book with yellowed pages fell out.

Lighting a candle, Bai Ling searched for the secret word corresponding to the secret letter, one character at a time, in the dim light.

This is a copy of Journey to the West (a 2000 edition) that Bai Ye gave to Bai Ling before they set off. The code was already marked on it. After some simple character substitution, a secret letter was written that everyone recognized, but couldn't be put together.

The next day, Bai Ling found Luo Sigong and asked him to "use his connections" to send the secret letter to the Ryukyu delegation waiting in Fuzhou using the imperial court's 600-li express courier service.

Upon receiving the letter, Luo Sigong immediately arranged for the post station to send it on its way.

Bai Ling knew that her journey home would be strictly monitored, and that sending a message privately was too risky.

However, sending letters via official channels would inevitably lead to strict scrutiny by officials at all levels in Fujian. And with the code, even if they racked their brains, they would not be able to decipher the information in the letters without the original copy.

As expected, after inspecting the letter for a long time, the Fujian governor and the Maritime Trade Office had no choice but to return it intact to the Ryukyu delegation.