The rain of arrows from the guards had no lethality. The Wokou pirates became even more ferocious. More than 20 Wokou pirates roared and rushed towards the guards. The leader of the pirates was short, but his jumping ability was amazing. He jumped on the soft sand as if he was flying.
He held a long Wokou sword in his hand and rushed into the group of guards alone. With a deep roar, he jumped up and the sword slashed down like a waterfall. The one in front of him was a soldier with a spear. He did not raise his spear to stab, nor did he cross his spear to meet the attack. Seeing that the Wokou was extremely fierce, he shouted, threw his spear, turned around, and ran.
The Japanese chopped down with his saber, cutting the soldier's shoulder and back diagonally, cutting the fleeing soldier in half. Then like a frog, he jumped and jumped, stabbing left and dashing right, swinging his saber up and down. For a moment, the cowardly officers and soldiers were thrown into confusion.
At this time, the Wokou pirates with all kinds of weapons lined up in a long snake formation and rushed over. Zhong Qian stood at the back and waved his sword, shouting, "Charge!" But the soldiers who had lost their morale had no fighting spirit. When they saw someone being killed, they all shouted and collectively turned around to run back. Zhong Qian and a few of his personal guards also retreated for a while.
There were only 300 salt soldiers on the other side, which was comparable to the Wokou pirates. On the other side, there were 500 regular soldiers. They only fought one round with the enemy and lost one soldier, and then they collectively retreated. In the eyes of Yang Ling, who had no understanding of the Jiangnan army, he only felt extremely angry and surprised: How is this possible? There were 500 people against 20 people. They should have been crushed to death, but they only fought one round and the whole army retreated?
Yang Ling's temples throbbed and the veins on his forehead bulged. At this time, his hatred for the Wokou pirates was not as great as his hatred for his own people. Yang Ling turned around and was about to rush down the pavilion. Mo Qinghe held him back and said anxiously: "Daren, the Jiangnan guards have always been dispirited. The Wokou people are fierce and cruel, so every time they meet an enemy, they are often afraid and flee without fighting. Now that the guards have been defeated, there is no time to reorganize. Daren, you must not go. If you are late, we will really be finished! "
Hearing this, Yang Ling's mind cleared up. He remembered what he had said to them when he led his troops to practice martial arts in the mountains. Now that he was the commander-in-chief, his role in commanding the troops here was far more useful than being a vanguard. Moreover, if he was really killed, at least the troops he had brought with him would not defend to the death.
Thinking of this, he stopped in his tracks, rushed to the front of the pavilion and shouted to the soldiers below, who were nocking arrows and waiting in formation, "All of you, come up here."
On the other side, more than twenty Wokou pirates chased after more than five hundred guards like a tide. Looking at their skills, only the Wokou pirate who was in the vanguard was very good at martial arts. The people behind him were also sloppy and ordinary. However, the frightened guards all had the idea of letting others die and themselves escape. It was obvious that as long as they mustered the courage to turn back and fight, they would be able to kill this group of Wokou pirates with their advantage in numbers, but they only cared about running away.
What surprised Yang Ling was that the gentle-looking Chief Commander Zhong did not retreat. He led nearly twenty of his personal guards and was thrown into confusion by his own soldiers. Caught off guard, a few of them were hacked to death by the Wokou who had caught up. Immediately after, he brandished his blade and led his men forward.
Seeing this, Yang Ling couldn't help but show a trace of joy: Fortunately, although these soldiers were disappointing and this Chief Commander Zhong did not know how to command a battle, at least he knew to be loyal to his duty.
Yang Ling had been promoted directly to the position of General, and had never started from the bottom. How could he have known that the true reason why this pitiful Commander Qian was fighting to the death was not because he wanted to be loyal to his position, but because he, the imperial envoy, was still here.
The soldiers of the City Guards Office had the responsibility of guarding the land. If they ran away at the last moment, they could still lie to their superiors that the enemy was too strong and they had no choice but to retreat. However, today, an Imperial Envoy had come and this Imperial Envoy was guarding the front and not leaving. If Chief Commander Zhong abandoned the Imperial Envoy and ran for his life, then he would only be beheaded and his possessions confiscated.
He would die if he retreated, but he would also die if he didn't (In Chief Commander Zhong's heart, he did not think that he was a match for the fierce Wokou pirates). At least if he didn't retreat, he would have a good reputation and his family would not be implicated. Because of this, Chief Commander Zhong's face was full of grief and indignation. He cursed Yang Ling's ancestors eight generations in his heart as he waved his sword and fought with the Wokou.
The reason his bodyguards didn't retreat was the same as him. According to the laws of Ming Destiny, if the general died in battle and the bodyguards were unharmed, then they would be beheaded. Therefore, these twenty bodyguards also cursed Chief Commander Zhong's ancestors eight generations in their hearts as they fought with their lives on the line.
Just now, five hundred people were defeated by twenty Wokou pirates. Now, it was twenty against twenty. Under the desperate situation, they were actually able to fight off the Wokou pirates.
Seeing this, Yang Ling's heart was slightly at ease. After the twenty foreigners went up the pavilion, Yang Ling pointed to the front and said, "To capture the bandits, first capture the ringleader. Don't panic. Look carefully and pick out the Wokou pirates who are holding flags and fans. Shoot them!"
Yang Ling stood on a high vantage point and discovered that although the Wokou pirates charged into the salt troops in groups of three to five and fought in a disorderly manner, there was always a man holding a strange flag or a man with a knife in one hand and a fan in the other. As long as they waved their flag or fan, the Wokou pirates would scream in unison. Their momentum was frightening and they would attack with their weapons. Once they were exhausted, they would turn to guerilla warfare to recover their strength.
The foreigners obeyed and stood in front of the pavilion. They specifically picked out the people who looked like the leaders of the Wokou pirates. Their arrows were accurate and ruthless. The small leaders of the Wokou pirates were shouting and commanding as they killed. Often, they were caught off guard and were nailed to the ground by the arrows. Taoist master Zhang was a believer in magic. When he saw the miraculous scene of the Wokou pirates being unharmed by the arrows, he was shocked. Now that he saw that the Wokou pirates were made of flesh and blood and could be killed, he let out a sigh of relief.
Yang Ling was also shocked, but he didn't believe that these Wokou pirates were invulnerable. If they really had this kind of martial arts, why would they still need to make a living on the sea? They could have conquered the world long ago.
Now that he saw that his personal guards' arrows were indeed deadly, he was even more certain of his judgment. But he still didn't understand why the arrows of the guards couldn't kill people, but he didn't have time to think about it.
The leaders of this group of Wokou pirates were a down-and-out Japanese samurai, Fei Qianshou, and a Chinese pirate, Chen Dong. This group of people disguised themselves as bandits and robbed the coast every spring and autumn. Other seasons, they would buy goods from Ming Destiny's illegal merchants and ship them to Japan, Luzon, and other places to make a huge profit.
In the past year or so, the war in Japan had become more and more intense. Those daimyo urgently needed large amounts of resources and money to stabilize their territory. But since the shogunate Ashikaga no longer submitted to Ming Destiny, Ming Destiny no longer did any trade with them. Many daimyo simply ordered their men to act as smugglers and pirates. This stole their business and caused their lives to become more and more destitute. So the two groups of pirates merged to strengthen their strength.
Their dilapidated warships were very backward in manufacturing technology. Those ships were sawed into squares with large pieces of wood. When they were joined, they didn't use nails, only pieces of iron. They didn't use hemp tendons or tung oil to close the gaps, but straw to plug the gaps. They couldn't defend against the Ming's big ships, especially the Fu and Canton ships. With just a light collision, their ships would scatter. They had no advantage at sea, so they could only use the vast coastline of Ming Destiny to roam around and go ashore to rob.
This was the first time the two groups of bandits made a big deal after forming an alliance. They thought they could take advantage of the tides and rob Haining clean. Unexpectedly, when the ship docked, they found that the Ming army was already waiting for them. Fei Qianshou and Chen Dong were secretly shocked, thinking that they had leaked the news. So the two of them delayed the battle until the end and didn't dare to put in all their forces, in case they fell into an ambush by the Ming army.
The two walked to the bow of the ship to take a look. They saw that there weren't many Ming soldiers on the beach, and they weren't dressed like regular soldiers. Among the soldiers who looked like salt soldiers, there was a man waving a big knife. The knife in his hand moved like a windmill. Once he touched it, the knife would break and the man would die. He was like a tiger in a flock of sheep, sweeping everything in his way.
Right in front of the Tide-viewing Tower was a group of soldiers in green clothes and small hats. They were all holding podaos of the same color. Although there weren't many of them, they were all brave and good at fighting. The whole group was arranged in a sharp triangle, like a sharp arrow piercing forward. The Wokou people's usual method of harassing and destroying in groups of three to five was completely useless. The soldiers in the triangle would occasionally pull out a short-barreled firearm to kill people. This kind of equipment was not the firearms that the coastal guards were equipped with.
The Wokou pirates' main weapons were knives and bows, and occasionally they had firearms such as muskets. But this group of pirates was relatively poor. The sea was humid, and it wasn't easy to maintain their bows and arrows. Besides, the accuracy and lethality of simple arrows weren't high enough. The wood and arrowheads for the arrows were expensive, so they weren't equipped with many bows and arrows.
But their long knives were extremely powerful. The Japanese long knives that these Wokou pirates used were about 1.4 meters long, almost as tall as those small men. The length and weight of these knives were almost double the Ming army's knives, and they could be wielded with two hands.
The Ming army's single knives could only be wielded with one hand. The strength, speed, and length of the knives were far inferior. In addition, when the Japanese knives were made, they used the steel wrapping technology of the Tang knives. In the Ming army, because the steel wrapping technology was expensive, other than the officers, the soldiers were only issued knives that were wrapping steel. When the two sides were evenly matched, it was easy to imagine who would win and who would lose.
Today, as luck would have it, they ran into Yang Ling's personal army. They all used the same long-handled podaos that were wrapped in steel. The knives were 1.3 meters long, and they weren't any weaker than the pirates. The people who used the knives were all elite soldiers who had been trained by the Shaolin Temple and the Imperial Bodyguard.
These pirates didn't care about the Wokou pirates' provocations. Their duty was to protect Yang Ling, so they wouldn't split up. The eighty people formed a formation that was like a sharp arrow. Eighty knives rose and fell, and the whole formation didn't stop. It rampaged on the beach in front of the pavilion like a meat grinder. Anyone who got close to it was immediately chopped to death.
A pirate with a long knife wanted to use his long knife to deal with the short knife, but before he could get close, the pirates in the inner layer had already pulled out their short guns and hit him in the face. Every time these pirates made a round, the outer layer became the inner layer, and the inner layer became the outer layer. The pirates in the inner layer put away their knives and changed their guns. As they recovered their strength, they loaded ammunition and used the guns. This way, the Wokou pirates, who had very few bows and arrows, were like the Ming army in the past, completely in a one-sided state of being beaten. Even the fearless pirates couldn't help but want to retreat.
At this time, the twenty sharpshooters by Yang Ling's side fully played the role of a sniper. They stood calmly on the pavilion roof and only paid attention to the people who looked like the Wokou leaders. When they saw them clearly, they would shoot. The Wokou who had lost their leader not only lost their fighting tactics, but the psychological deterrence was far greater than the fear of death. Without waiting for the big leader's orders, the Wokou gradually began to retreat.
The Wokou have always been suspicious. Not only was Fei Qianshou suspicious, but even Chen Dong, a native pirate, was secretly suspicious. He didn't know where these officers and soldiers came from. Fei Qianshou saw that the killing power of the official with the big knife among the salt soldiers was terrifying. The Ming army kept shooting arrows, so he waved his hand and called for a hard bow. He nocked an arrow on the string and secretly aimed at Min Wenjian. He wanted to imitate Min Wenjian and kill the Ming commander.
The archers in the pavilion saw that there were no more Wokou leaders to shoot on the beach. Their targets gradually shifted to the ships. A squad leader saw that there were two people surrounded by Wokou pirates on the last big ship. One of them was nocking an arrow and aiming at the salt soldiers. He immediately called for a captain and changed the Bow of a Hundred Transformations in his hand. This kind of bow was not issued by the army. It was a weapon specially developed by the Imperial Bodyguard.
This kind of bow could be adjusted at any time and the strength of the bow could be adjusted. The squad leader switched to the Bow of a Hundred Transformations and adjusted it to a three-picul bow. He nocked an eagle feather arrow and used all his strength to draw the bow. He aimed at the Wokou leader's chest and shot.
This three-picul bow consumed too much energy. Although these people were standing on the pavilion and were not threatened, the twenty people had aimed at the Wokou leader before shooting. By this time, everyone was exhausted. The squad leader was born with great strength. After shooting the arrow, the bow fell to the ground and his arms were exhausted.
The saber in Min Wenjian's hand was at least forty catties. When he swung it, the force was more than one or two hundred catties. If he used the force of the saber, he could save a lot of energy. So in order not to restrict his hands and feet and hinder the use of the saber, he rushed into the crowd of Wokou pirates and put some distance between himself and the salt soldiers. He swung his saber and fought with it. His official robe was already stained with blood.
Fei Qianshou stood at the bow of the ship. Min Wenjian did not stop attacking. It wasn't like there were Wokou running back and forth, so he couldn't shoot the arrow. The squad leader's arrow was already flying towards him. This arrow was originally aimed at his left chest, but when the arrow left the bowstring, it trembled slightly and the arrow lost its aim and went straight for his shoulder.
Fei Qianshou felt his arm was weak and suddenly a strong force pulled him back a few steps. His back hit the mast with a bang. At this time, he felt a heart-wrenching pain. A sharp arrow pierced through his right shoulder and came out from the back. Only a small part of the eagle feather was left on his chest.
Fei Qianshou cried out in pain and almost fainted. Chen Dong saw this and was shocked. He hurriedly crouched down and shouted, "Quick, quickly retreat! The Ming army is prepared. Retreat immediately! "
The surrounding Wokou pirates were also shocked. They didn't think that at such a long distance, there would be someone in the Ming army who could shoot an arrow so far. Furthermore, the force of the arrow was so strong that it could pierce through a person's body. Two of the bandits hurriedly raised their conches and placed them on the side of the ship to blow into them.
As soon as the Wokou pirates heard the sound of the conches, they turned around and ran as if they had been granted amnesty. They climbed onto the ship and lowered the sails. They stretched out the oars and hurriedly rowed. The twenty or so Wokou that had chased them for a distance of a stone's throw fought with Zhong Qianshou and his men. They fought until they were exhausted. There were only seven or eight Wokou pirates left. Zhong Qianshou only brought three wounded soldiers and was fighting as he retreated. When they heard the sound of the conches carried by the wind from the river, the Wokou pirates were about to turn around and run when they saw that the ship had already sailed into the middle of the river.
At this time, the tide was low and the river was flowing back. In addition, the Wokou pirates on the boat were rowing with all their might. Even if they escaped to the riverside, they wouldn't be able to catch up to the ship. At this time, shouts could be heard from the town. It was a few large salt merchants who knew that if the Wokou pirates came ashore, they would be the ones who would suffer the most losses. They quietly looked around and saw that the Ming army was actually able to hold off the Wokou pirates. They brought their servants with clubs and hoes to help.
The bravest of the Wokou pirates had killed five or six people and received two cuts on his body. Although the wounds weren't serious, he couldn't wrap them up. He had lost a lot of blood and was dizzy. At this time, he waved his knife as if he was dancing. He no longer had the imposing aura he had when he first came ashore. The salt merchants' servants swarmed over and slashed at him with poles and hoes. If it wasn't for the fact that Yang Ling wanted to keep a few of them alive and sent people to stop them, they would have been beaten to death.
Yang Ling brought some people to the beach to take a look. Other than the dead and wounded soldiers all over the ground, there were also more than forty Wokou who had been abandoned by the enemy ships. They were suppressed by more than eighty steel knives and didn't have any strength left to fight back.
He picked up an arrow shot by a Guards officer. The arrow was light and didn't weigh more than one tael. Yang Ling suddenly understood why these arrows couldn't hurt people. The Guards officers usually didn't have enough training and couldn't draw a bow or release an arrow. In order to fool people, they could only make this kind of light arrow. The arrow could be shot far, but it was light and didn't have any strength. On the riverside, with the wind blowing, rather than saying it was shot down, it was more like it floated down. How could it have the strength to hurt people?
Yang Ling finally saw the combat ability of the Jiangnan Guards. He shook his head helplessly and ordered his subordinates to clean up the battlefield. He took a few bodyguards and hurried over to Zhong Qian and the others. Zhong Qian stood there with his helmet askew as if he was in a dream. His arm had been pierced by a long spear and was dyed red. At this moment, he didn't seem to feel anything.
All along, the coastal soldiers saw the Wokou as tigers. That kind of fear came from their hearts. When they saw them, they were scared out of their wits and didn't have the courage to fight. It wasn't uncommon to see two hundred Wokou chasing two thousand soldiers as if they were sheep. Now that their numbers were equal, they were able to fight with them for so long and kill four Wokou with their own hands. It looked like they weren't that great after all. Zhong Qian's courage and confidence immediately increased. It was only now that he angrily remembered his five hundred useless soldiers who only knew how to eat.
Yang Ling walked over to the Wokou who had been beaten black and blue. He stared at the Wokou who had killed a Ming soldier with one knife and charged into the Ming army alone. He asked, "Do you speak Chinese? Who's your leader? "
The Wokou, whose face was covered in blood, glared at him fiercely and stood proudly without saying a word. A salt merchant's servant saw this and didn't know any etiquette. He raised a hoe and viciously smashed the man's knee. He shouted, "Didn't you hear your master's question?"
The hoe hit the man's knee. The Wokou fell heavily to the ground on one knee but immediately jumped back up. His leg was half curled and slightly trembling. It was obvious that his injury wasn't light but he still didn't kneel. Yang Ling waved his hand to stop the commoner who still wanted to beat him. He said, "Tie them up and later find someone who understands Wokou. I want to question them."
At this time, Min Wenjian carried a large knife and ran over. He was sweating profusely. He laughed excitedly and said, "Refreshing! Refreshing! In the fifth month, I used three hundred salt soldiers to repel two hundred Wokou. I thought that was already very impressive. I didn't think that when you came, you would be able to defeat many. Hahaha, you really are my lucky general. "
As he said this, he suddenly realized that Yang Ling's official rank was more than one level higher than his. He couldn't help but laugh awkwardly. Yang Ling cupped his hands towards him and sighed in admiration. He said, "When it comes to killing the enemy, how can I compare to Official Min? Your knife really went on a killing spree today. Did you even capture the remaining bandits by the river?"
Min Wenjian stared at him and asked curiously, "Capture what? I've already ordered my men to kill them all. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm afraid the river water will stink, I would have thrown them into the river to feed the fish. What are you going to do with these few pieces of material? Quickly finish this. "
Yang Ling was stunned when he heard this. When he had rushed over, there were still more than forty pirates who had not been able to board the boat in time. Including those who were injured and not yet dead, there were at least a hundred. He had ordered his men to capture all of them, but he did not expect Min Wenjian to act on his own and kill all of them. Yang Ling came from the future and always felt that torturing prisoners was inhumane. When he heard this, he couldn't help but reveal a displeased expression.
There was a middle-aged man named Meichun 'an among the salt merchants who came to help. Apart from inheriting the family property from their fathers, most of these salt merchants had started out as illegal salt dealers and gradually became merchants who sold salt on behalf of the government. Therefore, most of them were strong and fond of martial arts. Although Mei Chun An has a refined name, he looks strong and has a fierce expression on his face.
Seeing that Yang Ling didn't care, he smiled and said, "Daren is kind, but these Wokou people are greedy and never repent. I heard from my elders that in the early years, we captured the surrendered Wokou people and let them go. In the end, they came back and ruined our people. They stole our property and brought it back to their country. This also attracted more Wokou people to do evil. So now when we catch Wokou people, they are always executed. A brave and fierce army is far more feared by the enemy than a gentle and civilized teacher."
Yang Ling thought about how the Americans used nuclear bombs to destroy the Wokou city, but the Wokou people were still in awe. And the Chinese were magnanimous and let their war criminals go back to their country. Even until their hair turned white, most of them still advocated militarism and hated hurting people. He couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Mo Qinghe had never seen the Ming army so valiant. At this time, he couldn't help but have a whole new level of respect for Yang Ling's personal army. He smiled and said to Yang Ling, "This time Daren personally commanded our army. Our army won a complete victory and killed more than 400 people. It will be reported to the capital in a few days. Daren's name will definitely be heard in the world. It is really worthy of celebration.
I congratulate Daren in advance. "Min Wenjian was very happy to hear this. This time, Yang Ling was personally overseeing things. He was the imperial envoy, so no one could take this credit away from him. However, he understood Yang Ling's character very well. He knew that Yang Ling would never be greedy for credit. He also had a share in this fight against the Wokou pirates. He couldn't help but say happily," That's right. Compared to our border army, the coastal guards are not just ten li or eight li away. They have always lost battles and never won. This time, Daren's arrival turned the situation around.
Aiya, Zhong Daren, I'm not talking about you. Look at how refined you usually are. I, a civil official, look like a military general. You, a military general, look like a civil official. To tell the truth, I, Old Min, have always looked down on you. But today, I saw that you really are a real man. I, Old Min, admire you very much. "
Zhong Qian's face turned red from what he had just said. He embarrassedly said, "Min Daren is overpraising me. This general … this general is ashamed. The soldiers under my command are a bunch of clay chickens and pottery dogs. Today's performance was really a joke. Even this general myself has never really fought against the enemy. When I saw the Wokou pirates, I was really flustered. Ai! I'm really ashamed. "
Yang Ling saw that half of Zhong Qian's body was covered in blood. He couldn't bear to reprimand him any further. He could only say, "When this official was in the north, I once saw a valiant general with the surname Jiang in the army. Even when facing the Wokou pirates, he could still fight one against ten. He once said that the first time he went on the battlefield, he was also scared out of his wits. It was his Centurion who dragged him to charge and break through the enemy lines. After this battle, you've also seen that these Wokou pirates aren't that great. As long as they aren't afraid to fight, they won't be able to take advantage of you. It's just that … your soldiers … really need to be trained. "
Zhong Qian's face turned red with embarrassment. He said timidly, "Yes, yes, yes. This general understands. This general will follow your orders."
* * *
Min Wenjian left behind a few soldiers to clean up the battlefield. The salt merchants organized themselves and helped the injured soldiers into the town for treatment. After a rough calculation, it was found that the salt soldiers, who were brave and good at fighting, were not as good as the Wokou pirates. More than half of them were dead or injured. There were only about one hundred and forty people left unscathed.
Other than the forty or so Wokou pirates who were left behind and a hundred or so injured, there were about two hundred and sixty people who died on the spot. Sixty percent of them were killed by the pirates' swords and arrows. However, out of the eighty strong soldiers who were charging at the front, there were less than thirty casualties. Seeing this, Yang Ling regretted his decision. If he had known that this would happen, he would have brought his entire army of three hundred soldiers. The result of the battle would have been far worse.
He returned to the temporary official residence that was arranged for him in the town. He found someone who knew the Wokou language and was about to go to the west wing where the Wokou pirates were being held to understand the situation of the pirates. When they saw Yang Ling, they kowtowed and thanked him, thanking the Imperial Envoy for ruthlessly attacking the Wokou pirates and getting rid of evil for the people of the town. Then, they cried and begged the Imperial Envoy to uphold justice for the people and execute all the Wokou pirates.
Yang Ling saw that these old people were seventy or eighty years old and were still kowtowing to him. He hurriedly helped them up. But for him to personally give the order to kill the prisoners, he really couldn't bring himself to do it. He could only look at the Taoist master Zhang awkwardly. These old people all believed in Buddhism. If a Taoist master came forward to persuade them, perhaps they could be persuaded to leave.
The Taoist master Zhang understood. He went forward and bowed to the old people, saying, "Elders, the Heavens have the virtue of cherishing life. Now that these Wokou pirates have been captured, if they were to be executed, it would be against the harmony of the Heavens. They have committed many evil deeds, so Mr Yang will not let them off. Why not let them suffer in prison?"
Although the Taoist master Zhang was young, the old men were very respectful and didn't dare to be rude to him. One of the old men cried and said, "Taoist master, these Wokou pirates are cruel and inhumane. Even if they were hacked to pieces, they still wouldn't be able to redeem their sins. They killed people, set fires, dug up graves, and did all kinds of bad things. Last year, when the Wokou pirates came ashore, they threw an eight month old child on the bed in the old salt warehouse. They poured boiling water over him and listened to his cries for entertainment. Taoist master ah … "
When Yang Ling heard this, a chill rose from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Whether it was for survival or for money, he could reluctantly accept killing people. But these were bandits, how could you expect them to be kind? However, this kind of heartless behavior was purely to satisfy a perverted and inhumane desire. To pour boiling water on an innocent baby just to listen to his cries for entertainment?
Yang Ling's scalp was numb. Gao Wenxin and Zhang Fubao's eyes were filled with tears. Even the Taoist master Zhang, who always talked about the Heavenly Dao and the human heart, was frowning. His eyes were filled with murderous intent, and he didn't look like a cultivator at all.
Another old man said, "Not only that, they ate at a family's house at noon. When they left, they killed the entire family and took their blood to make wine. They said it was good for the body. They bet on whether the pregnant woman was a boy or a girl, so they cut open the baby to test. There were also local rich families who were kidnapped and blackmailed by them. If the family didn't have enough money, they cut them into pieces and sent them back …"
Yang Ling's face turned green. With a trembling voice, he said, "Don't say anymore, don't say anymore!"
The old man who spoke first said, "Your Excellency, we treat them as humans, but they don't treat themselves as humans. It's one thing for them to steal money, but to commit murder and arson like this, if you don't say they're beasts, then what are they? They also love to kidnap women and young boys. The shameful things they force them to do, even I, an old man, can't say anything about it! "
Yang Ling couldn't bear to listen any longer. He turned around and hurriedly walked towards the door. Just as he reached the door, Zhang Fubao, who was still in the room, roared, "Kill them! Surnamed Yang, if you still want to let them live, I … I … I'll draw talismans on you every day! "
Yang Ling's footsteps paused. Then, without turning his head, he quickly walked out of the hall. In the west wing, a few pirates were tied to a pillar. Yang Ling walked in with a gloomy expression. Seeing this, Officer Zheng and the other foreigners hurriedly stood up and saluted, "Greetings, Your Excellency."
Yang Ling nodded his head and said, "En, today, it's all thanks to you guys. Remember to properly collect the corpses of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country. When we return to the capital, this official will definitely heavily compensate their families. Our brothers who participated in the battle today will all be heavily rewarded!"
After he finished speaking, he turned his head and swept his gaze across the few pirates. Finally, his gaze fell on a man dressed in the clothes of a Han woman. When their eyes met, the man shivered and avoided eye contact. Yang Ling walked over and stopped in front of him. He said, "Who is your leader? How many people are there in total? Where do you usually go?"
The man that he found who understood Japanese quickly repeated his question in Japanese. The man listened and didn't say a word. Yang Ling faintly smiled and said, "Do you think that we don't know how to deal with you? Do you want to pour boiling water on me? " His cold gaze wandered over the man's body. He said, "If I pour boiling water on your body and then use an iron brush dipped in salt to brush your body layer by layer, what would you think? Or, if I directly thrust a red-hot iron rod into your thigh … "
What Yang Ling said were all methods that he heard the Imperial Bodyguard used to deal with criminals. Before the man beside him could translate, the man's forehead was covered in a cold sweat. He suddenly said in a hoarse voice, "If I confess … if I confess, will Your Excellency spare me?"
Yang Ling was startled and immediately became angry. He said in a stern voice, "You are a Han?"
The man couldn't help but tremble when he was yelled at, but he still stubbornly said, "I … I also have no way to live, so … so I walked this path. These people are all real Japanese. They won't confess. Your Excellency, you must promise to spare me. Only then will I speak."
Yang Ling's gaze fell on the woman's light green robe he was wearing. He picked up a corner of the robe and asked, "This robe, did you steal it? Her master … that girl, what happened to her? "
The man's expression changed. This robe was the one he had taken from a young married woman when he went ashore in Fujian last year. That woman … that woman … He remembered the last terrifying appearance of that beautiful young woman and couldn't help but shiver.
Seeing that the man was still stammering and still wanted to lie, Yang Ling suddenly turned around and suppressed the urge to strangle him alive. He then said word by word, "If you tell me, I'll let you die a quick death! This is the only condition! You don't have a second choice! "
The man was stunned and thought over Yang Ling's words again. Only then did he understand the meaning behind his words. He couldn't help but reveal a look of fear. Yang Ling coldly said, "Have you decided? I don't need to know your situation. If you don't tell me, I won't give you a second chance! "
Seeing Yang Ling step by step towards the door, the bandit, who had used all kinds of strange methods to torture people for fun, finally couldn't help but shout, "Sir, please stay. I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything. I only ask that you leave me a whole corpse."
The man told everything he knew in detail. In fact, his information wasn't very valuable. These Wokou pirates were everywhere and didn't have a fixed residence. Even if the Ming Destiny navy wanted to go out to sea to encircle them, they didn't have the ability to do so. If they wanted to deal with them, they would have to wait for them to come inland to rob and then punish them severely. What was certain was that they would definitely come!
However, what surprised Yang Ling was that he heard more about the situation in Japan from this man. The shogunate was declining day by day and could no longer control the daimyo of various places. The daimyo and samurai leaders of various places were very eager to trade with Ming Destiny to strengthen their own power.
Some of these forces had secret channels to smuggle goods through Ming Destiny, so they were also opposed to the Wokou pirates running amok to avoid affecting their business. Moreover, these official smuggling teams not only secretly traded with the coastal merchants of Ming Destiny, but also had a sea trade route with Luzon and Nanyang. This information was temporarily useless, but it might be useful in the future. Yang Ling secretly remembered it.
What surprised him even more was that the common currency of Japan turned out to be Ming Destiny's copper coins. Japan had tried to make their own currency, but the quality of the copper coins they made was very poor. After a short time, they broke and became a pile of scrap metal. Therefore, they could only use Ming Destiny's currency as the common currency of Japan.
After the Ashikaga family no longer submitted to Ming Destiny, the two countries cut off trade. Japan needed a lot of copper coins, but they had no way to obtain them. It was unimaginable for a country to have no currency, so the officials could only smuggle and even act as pirates.
When Yang Ling heard this, he was stunned for a moment. He didn't think that China's currency could be used as a substitute for another country's currency. His hatred and loathing for the inhumane Wokou pirates didn't make him lose his rationality and think that killing and stabbing was the only way to completely eliminate these scourges on the sea.
Yang Ling thought to himself: The Wokou pirates on the sea must be fought, and we must find a way to eliminate them. But if we don't eliminate the source of these scourges, even if we eliminate this batch, a new batch will be born. If we want long-term peace, we must clear out and block them.
Originally, he didn't have much confidence in asking the emperor to open trade with Japan after returning to the capital. This was because there was resistance from the court, especially from the three cabinet ministers. He didn't have the confidence to suppress it. He vaguely remembered that in history, when Liu Jin was in power, he was the strongest. If he was in charge of the court, this ignorant and incompetent guy who only knew how to fish for money wouldn't be an obstacle. But he didn't remember exactly when that happened, and he didn't have time to wait.
But now that he had some confidence, if he used trade and other economic means as an extension of political means, would those civil officials still oppose it? Opening trade would allow the two countries to work together to fight against the pirates. If we control them economically and do our best to maintain a leading position, they won't have any ambitions to covet us. If even their currency came from our hands, if there really was a conflict, we just needed to create a large amount of currency and throw it into their territory. Do we have to fear that the hostile government wouldn't collapse? As for in the distant future, whether or not they would have the ability to produce their own currency, or even develop their economy further, was not within Yang Ling's consideration. People couldn't rely on their ancestors to survive for thousands of years. The older generation laid a good foundation for you, and the rest would be left to the later generation to worry about.
How was the capital? He had been away for a month, was everything normal in the court? When the people he sent to the capital came back, he would know. Yang Ling felt that he had too many things to do and too much time to do. He wanted nothing more than to immediately end everything and rush back to the capital, but … was that possible? If he didn't settle everything here, he wouldn't be able to subdue the factory guards. If he didn't subdue the factory guards, how would he have the strength to fight against the court and quickly implement his political strategy?
Yang Ling stopped and let out a long sigh. He raised his leg and walked to the door. Suddenly, he stopped and said, "Give this person a quick death. Leave the rest to the townspeople! "
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