Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 241 The Destruction of Mao Wenlong

Zheng Zhilong and Wu Sangui fought so smoothly whether it was the island siege or the landing battle, so much so that when they approached the city, they underestimated the enemy. Zheng Zhilong and Wu Sangui sent a large army to storm Mao Wenlong's city, and they were about to flatten Mao Wenlong's city within an hour. This city.

However, although Mao Wenlong's city is small, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Mao Wenlong's resistance and counterattack exceeded Zheng Zhilong and Wu Sangui's imagination. Several attacks were repelled by Mao Wenlong's defenders, and Zheng Zhilong and Wu Sangui's troops suffered casualties. heavy.

Zheng Zhilong stared angrily at the city in the distance, his face was livid, and his chest was heaving violently. After a while, he gave an order to Zheng Zhihu beside him: "Go and bring all the steel cannons to me. Today I vow to bring this The city was razed to the ground!”

Zheng Zhihu immediately nodded and accepted the order, turned around and quickly led his men to transport the steel cannon to the ship.

Mao Wenlong saw that Zheng Zhilong's soldiers and horses had been repelled by him several times, and he suddenly raised his head and laughed wildly with pride. Although he knew that he was besieged by Zheng Zhilong and Wu Sangui's army, there was no way to escape, and sooner or later there would be bullets. When he was running out of food, it could make Zheng Zhilong feel exhausted and make him feel very comfortable.

Zheng Zhilong and Wu Sangui's offensive breakthrough stopped, and the besieging troops retreated five miles away, daring not to enter the artillery range of Mao Wenlong's army.

However, Mao Wenlong did not rest idle just because the opponent stopped attacking. Mao Wenlong began to take advantage of this gap and asked his men to move all the artillery shells from the warehouse to the city wall. At the same time, he went to the firearms warehouse to find all the usable artillery and muskets. , put it on the city wall to enhance defense.

About an hour later, there was a loud noise from the Zheng Zhilong army's position, which had been silent for a long time, and a shell flew from seven or eight miles away to the city wall at Mao Wenlong's feet, hitting the parapet of the city wall, A gap was created directly.

Mao Wenlong was shocked when he saw this. He immediately thought that this must be the most powerful steel cannon in the Ming army. He had seen this kind of cannon in Liaodong. Thinking of this terrible and deadly weapon, Mao Wenlong broke out in cold sweat. The sideburns.

But before Mao Wenlong could recover, the Zheng Zhilong army positions around the city suddenly erupted with gunfire, and the deafening sound of steel cannons came one after another, continuously.

Subsequently, countless cannonballs hit Mao Wenlong's city. In the face of the cannonballs from the giant steel cannon, this fortified city could no longer be called strong. The city walls were instantly beaten to pieces, and the cannonballs that fell into the city also destroyed the people in the city. Buildings were blown to pieces.

Mao Wenlong was really panicked now. The most powerful cannons he had were only a dozen Hongyi cannons. There was no way he could fight against Zheng Zhilong. His own cannons couldn't even hit others, but they could only get beaten. .

Maybe the sky is really going to kill Mao Wenlong, a cannonball flew into the tower behind Mao Wenlong impartially, and it happened to be a bomb with gunpowder inside. It stands to reason that the cannonball failed to hit Mao Wenlong, but flew past Mao Wenlong instead. , Mao Wenlong should feel lucky and blessed by God, but at this time, Mao Wenlong could not laugh at all.

The tower behind him had just been filled with gunpowder and cannonballs. It had turned into a huge gunpowder barrel. Now being hit by an enemy cannonball, wouldn't it be worse than him being hit by a cannonball?

The next moment, a dazzling fire appeared from the tower, and then the flames gushed out from every door and window of the tower, instantly enveloping the entire tower, and everything around it was reduced to ashes, including Mao Wenlong and his son in front of the tower. Mao Chenglu.

Then there was a loud bang that resounded for dozens of miles, making everyone instantly deaf. There were only bursts of roaring in the ears, and it took a long time to recover.

Zheng Zhilong looked at the ruined city in front of him, and was a little stunned for a moment. Only the two ends of the front city wall were left, and the city gate and tower in the middle had completely disappeared. There were only broken trees falling from the air. Bricks and stones were piled all over the ground. As for the human corpses, there was no complete body at all. They were either completely reduced to ashes or had limbs and arms broken. It was impossible to tell who belonged to whom.

After a long time, a smile appeared on Zheng Zhilong's stunned and stunned face. He opened his mouth and wanted to laugh, but he seemed to be unable to smile, and his expression looked quite distorted and embarrassed.

On the other hand, Wu Sangui was young and energetic. Although he was shocked by the explosion just now, he didn't take it too seriously. He immediately ran towards Zheng Zhilong with a smile: "Zheng Futai, the traitor Mao Wenlong's city has been destroyed. Let's rush in quickly." , Kill this thief with your hands!"

Zheng Zhilong didn't talk to him or stop him. He still looked at the city in front of him and smiled stupidly. Seeing that he seemed to be losing his mind, Wu Sangui didn't care to talk nonsense with him, and rushed towards the city with his men.

Zheng Zhilong came back to his senses and wanted to call Wu Sangui, but found that Wu Sangui had run away, so he could only mutter to himself: "Mao Wenlong has been killed by the bomb. I saw him standing on the tower of the front gate with my own eyes." ..."

In fact, Mao Wenlong's death should not be entirely attributed to God's will. It also had a lot to do with his own problems. Mao Wenlong's troops were not very disciplined and looked like a bandit gang. In addition, in recent years, they have also It is true that they are all doing the work of pirates, so naturally they are becoming more and more out of touch with the habits of the regular army, let alone military discipline.

Mao Wenlong's troops can really fight, and their combat effectiveness is worth mentioning, but they rely not on the formation of troops and strict military discipline, but on the strength and ruthlessness of fighting bravely, order and rules. It's completely out of the question.

Although it is very convenient to stack the gunpowder and cannonballs behind you, if they are not neatly sorted and stacked with appropriate intervals, accidents may easily occur. This is a great hidden danger, not to mention putting all the cannonballs and cannonballs together. The gunpowder was piled in a tower without any defense facilities. Even if the tower was not hit by a cannon and one of our own people accidentally let a spark fly in, the outcome would be the same.

After Wu Sangui led his army into the city, he thought that the defeated troops under Mao Wenlong would surrender voluntarily, but he did not expect that all of them would turn red-eyed and fight him desperately. In this case, Wu Sangui would naturally not show mercy. The remaining people in the city More than a thousand of Mao Wenlong's generals and soldiers were eventually killed.

When Zheng Zhilong led his army to the front of the city, Wu Sangui, already covered in blood, walked out of the city with his troops. As he walked, he complained: "The traitor Mao Wenlong can't be found anywhere. Could it be that we let him go?" Did he escape?"

Zheng Zhilong shook his head, pointed to the ruins of the tower and said, "Mao Wenlong was standing in front of the tower just now. He was the first to bear the brunt of the explosion. He must have been dead!"

After hearing this, Wu Sangui couldn't help but look regretful: "What a pity. I had to go back with his head to ask for credit!"

After wiping out Mao Wenlong on Tanegashima, Zheng Zhilong and Wu Sangui then wiped out the remnants of Mao Wenlong on the Osumi Islands one by one. In fact, there was such a big commotion on Tanegashima, and the surrounding seas were also full of Zheng Zhilong's warships, and those on other islands. How could Mao Wenlong's men not be aware of it? Some people had run away quietly long ago when they saw something was going wrong.However, if you drive a sampan boat, you can still get away with it, but any larger ship will have a hard time escaping the blockade of Zheng Zhilong's fleet, so the number of people who can escape Zheng Zhilong's encirclement is very small.

In half a month, Mao Wenlong, the once powerful sea hero, was uprooted, as if they had never appeared in this sea area.

The good news was quickly sent to the capital. In the capital, the government and the public were celebrating and feeling happy. On the contrary, Zhu Tianqi couldn't help feeling a little sad when he heard that Mao Wenlong didn't even leave a body in the capital.

After the court meeting, Zhu Tianqi asked Wang Yuanbao to bring Mao Chengdou to the palace. Mao Chengdou was 13 years old and was no longer a child who knew nothing in this era.

After several years of careful teaching by the teachers sent by Zhu Tianqi, Mao Chengdou has revealed a Confucian and liberal scholarly spirit at a young age. After being brought into the palace, Mao Chengdou respectfully kowtowed and saluted: "Student Mao Chengdou, come and see the emperor!"

Zhu Tianqi looked at the young and mature Mao Chengdou, couldn't help being a little funny, raised his hand to signal him to get up, and then asked, "Chengdou, what is your fame now?"

Mao Chengdou replied in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Back to the emperor, the student was a scholar who passed the exam last year and is now preparing for the exam!"

Zhu Tianqi nodded with satisfaction, "Very good, I did not misjudge the person. You are indeed very smart, diligent and eager to learn, and you are a good boy."

After saying this, Zhu Tianqi hesitated for a moment, and finally asked: "Mao Chengdou, I am going to ask you this question next. You must answer me sincerely. No matter how you answer, I will not blame you. , have you written it down?"

Although Mao Chengdou was a little curious, he still raised his hand and saluted and said: "Students have written down, the emperor's question, how dare the students not answer truthfully, otherwise it would be disloyal and dishonest, reading poetry and books."

Zhu Tianqi nodded slightly, and then asked, "What do you think of your father Mao Wenlong?"

When Mao Chengdou heard this, there was no emotion on his face. Instead, he said with a look of deep hatred: "Mao Wenlong is a disobedient person, an unfaithful and unjust person. As his son, he is really the son of students." shame!"

Although Mao Chengdou's answer satisfied Zhu Tianqi, Zhu Tianqi still felt a little uncomfortable. This was really unfair to Mao Wenlong, but it was also a helpless move. Only in this way could he ensure that Mao Chengdou would not be cheated by Mao Wenlong. Being implicated can be regarded as a kind of protection for Mao Chengdou.

"It seems that the few old nerds I sent here in recent years have been very successful in brainwashing this kid!" Zhu Tianqi secretly sighed in his heart, "But I really pity this Mao Wenlong, who is working hard outside for his wife and children. In the end, my son still didn’t recognize him as my father!”

However, Zhu Tianqi's mood was not so heavy anymore, and he said directly to Mao Chengdou: "You should have heard that Mao Wenlong's tribe has been annihilated by Zheng Zhilong, and Mao Wenlong was blown up to the point where there were no bones left, and two corpses. None left."

When Mao Chengdou heard this, his face remained calm and he said: "Back to the emperor, the students have heard about this. As the saying goes, 'Anyone who commits injustice will be punished by his own death.' The traitor Mao Wenlong ended up like this. It's completely unacceptable." It’s your own fault and you can’t blame others!”

After Zhu Tianqi listened to Mao Chengdou's words, he took a deep breath and stood up. Now that Mao Chengdou has completely cleared his relationship with Mao Wenlong, Zhu Tianqi has nothing to worry about. Regarding his promise to Mao Wenlong back then, You can also perform it with confidence.

Zhu Tianqi waved to Wang Yuanbao beside him, and Wang Yuanbao came forward with the imperial edict in his hand and read out the edict: "According to the imperial edict of Emperor Chengyun, I remember that Mao Chengdou is extremely intelligent and astute, and is a rare plastic person in the world. He is talented and has a clear understanding of justice at a young age. Although he was born in a rebellious family, he is able to distinguish right from wrong and keep a clear line with the traitors.

Therefore, I also don’t want him to be influenced by his family background and miss his future in vain. Now he is bestowed with a national surname, and has no connection with the traitor Mao Wenlong ever since. "

After listening to the imperial edict, Mao Chengdou was moved to tears. Although he was young, the more he read books about saints and sages, the more he cared about this, and the more he valued the emperor's favor. He even kowtowed and shouted : "Student Mao Chengdou accepted the order and thanked the Emperor for his kindness!"

Zhu Tianqi waved his hand and didn't want to say anything else, so he asked Wang Yuanbao to send Mao Chengdou back. From then on, Mao Chengdou changed his name to Zhu Chengdou, and he no longer had to worry about anyone calling him a traitor.

It is now the end of February in the 13th year of the Apocalypse. Man Gui finally rushed back from Siberia, entered the capital to meet the saint, and brought back a lot of fine furs and wood.

In fact, Mangui planned to come back before the Zhengdan Festival to see the saint. However, the mountains were blocked by heavy snow the year before. It was impossible to carry so much wood and furs on the way. In addition, the Siberian winter was too cold. There was no way to get out and hurry.

Fortunately, the weather turned out fine and there was no more heavy snowfall. After Mangui led people to clear the snow on the road, they finally climbed through the mountains and arrived in Mobei, and then hurried back to the capital along the road.

Zhu Tianqi was naturally very courteous to Man Gui, a great hero who opened up his territory and expanded his territory, and hosted a banquet for him in person. However, after hearing what Man Gui said about the hardships along the way back to Beijing from Siberia, Zhu Tianqi asked him to I couldn't help but have some new ideas.

Nowadays, the territory of the Ming Dynasty has more than doubled. With the current transportation and communication capabilities, it is really difficult to control such a large territory, especially Siberia, with such a long distance, coupled with various climate and weather factors Affected by the epidemic, transportation and communication will be even more difficult.

To put it bluntly, even if one day Mangui rebelled in Siberia and proclaimed himself king, the throne might have been passed down for several generations before news could be received here, let alone troops sent to revolt and regain the lost territory.

(End of this chapter)