Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 145 The Spaniards Are Coming
"Uncle Xu, please look, are these two people Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng?" Lin Hai brought Xu Xinsu to the room where the prisoners were held, and pointed at the two gray-headed old thieves who were tied up.

Men from the sea tend to look older. Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng are both in their early fifties, but they look like they are over sixty. Xu Xinsu, who is about the same age as them, looks much younger.

Chen and Yang were older and were in front when they engaged the enemy. Fortunately, they were not killed by cannons, but when it came time to escape, they could no longer run. They were captured alive not long after the rout began.According to the confessions of other prisoners, these two were the leaders of the bandits, Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng.

Xu Xinsu recognized these two people even after they were turned into ashes. As soon as he took a look at them, he exclaimed: "The sky has eyes, these two old thieves are also here today!"

"My dear nephew, thanks to you, my eldest brother's revenge can finally be avenged..." Xu Xinsu was choked up as she spoke.

"Uncle San, it's too early to say this. We'll wait until we catch Thief Zheng." Lin Hai added, "I didn't expect that Thief Zheng actually sent these two old thieves to the Zhongzuo Institute. They just happened to commit a crime against someone Lin." In his hands, this is probably because the old captain has a spirit in heaven."

Xu Xinsu burst into tears when she heard this: "My nephew is right, if I don't kill Thief Zheng, my eldest brother will die with peace of mind."

"Third uncle, don't worry. My nephew believes that this day will not be too far away." Lin Hai pointed at Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng and said, "Third uncle, do you want to kill these two beasts with your own hands to satisfy the hatred in your heart?"

Xu Xinsu was a little eager to try after hearing this, but he had never killed anyone with his own hands before, so he hesitated and finally said: "How about we escort these two old thieves to Pingdo and let your sworn brother kill them with his own hands in front of his father's grave? "

Lin Hai shook his head and said: "It's best not to be like this. When we get to Hirado, it will be bad if things change. My nephew thinks it's best for Uncle Xu to do it himself. Then the head will be salted and then sent to Hirado."

Xu Xinsu suddenly woke up. He had not thought of this in his excitement. Hirado was the territory of the Matsuura family, and of course it was not controllable in Xiamen.However, after this episode, his desire to kill with his own hands has faded away: "I have never seen blood in my life, and I have been fasting and chanting Buddha since I was 50 years old. I will not do anything to these two old thieves. My dear nephew, you kill them for me." That’s it.”

He paused and suddenly added: "Don't let them die too quickly, no matter how cruel you are."

"My nephew will obey the orders of my third uncle." Lin Hai complained silently in his heart. He was really compassionate towards the old man.

At this time, Viper beside him said with bright eyes: "Sir, why don't you hand over these two old thieves to your subordinates?"

That night, in a dark room with an oil lamp lit, the cold light from the tip of the knife reflected the cold eyes of Viper. It was a sharp and thin knife, only the size of a palm, and its shape was basically similar to the Lingchi knife.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Xiao Er, and my nickname is Viper. I am the executioner in the county. I am used to chopping people's heads with a blunt knife..."

"I have also been a bandit and a pirate, so I can be considered a colleague of the two of you." Viper said to Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng with a smile, "I like to hear people scream most in my life. The more miserable they scream, the more miserable they are." The more comfortable I feel..."

Early the next morning, the heads of Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng were placed in front of Lin Hai and Xu Xinsu. Their faces were extremely distorted, and they looked like they had just died.

"One person died after more than 1000 cuts. I heard that Ling Chi had to cut more than 3000 cuts. I don't know how." Viper reported to Lin Hai and Xu Xinsu on the side, his bloodshot eyes full of excitement. , but also with a hint of regret.

"That's using ginseng to hold the breath..." Xu Xinsu regretted not making two bowls of ginseng soup for Viper. He took out two ingots of silver from his sleeves and handed them over, "Brother Xiao, you did a good job, this is for you. Watering your hands."

Viper quickly thanked him, and Lin Hai smiled and said: "The name Xiao Er is a bit awkward. I will give you a name. From now on, you will be called Xiao Zizai."

"I would like to thank you, Your Majesty, for the name...Xiao Zizai..." Viper muttered the new name silently, and Monk Zhanger was a little confused for a moment, "I wonder what is the meaning of this name that Your Excellency gave to this subordinate?"

"Nothing, I just want to praise you for your great mercy..." Lin Hai replied casually.

Three days later, the news that Chen Zhongji and Yang Tian died in Zhongzuo reached Zheng Zhilong's ears.

"Master, should we kill the Zhongzuo Institute to avenge Uncle Chen and Uncle Yang?" Zheng Zhipeng asked his clan brother Zheng Zhilong. Since defeating the Quannan guerrilla Chen Qiwei in the first battle, Zheng Zhilong's prestige among his subordinates has skyrocketed. Clan brother Zheng Zhipeng quietly changed his name in front of him.

"Revenge? Didn't you listen to what that old thief Huang Mingzuo said? Today's Xiamen City can't penetrate a needle or pour water, and the internal agents he arranged can't be contacted. How can we take revenge?" Zheng Zhilong's face was livid, and he said angrily replied.

After landing in Zhangpu, the reason why he chose to march north was mainly because he wanted to ask Huang Mingzuo about the situation in Xiamen City in person. Huang Hexing's headquarters was in Yuegang, Haicheng County.

Unexpectedly, on the way, they encountered the Quannan guerrillas who came to suppress Zheng. They fought a victory in a confused manner, but unexpectedly killed Chen Qiwei, who was slightly famous in Fujian.

At this time, Zheng Zhilong's confidence skyrocketed, and he quickly sent an order to Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng to recruit troops under Xiamen City. On the one hand, this would frighten Xu Xinsu in the city, and on the other hand, it would also add some prestige to him, Mr. Zheng.

He himself brought a team of confidants and quietly came to Yuegang to meet Huang Mingzuo, but the guy told him that the informant in the city could not be contacted.

Not long after, the news came that Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng were dead in the battle. Zheng Zhilong knew the deployment of troops along the coast of Fujian very well. He never expected that after the Quannan Guerrilla Force was destroyed, there would be such strong troops in Xiamen city.

"Which officer and soldier was it that defeated Uncle Chen and Uncle Yang? Couldn't it be Fang Xianke's Woutong Rangers?"

"No, I heard they are guest soldiers from Zhejiang, and the leader is a Qianhu named Lin."

"The Qianhu from Zhejiang...surnamed Lin..." Zheng Zhilong was suddenly shocked when he heard this, "But the Qianhu Linhai in Zhongzhongsuo, Zhoushan?"

"Huh?" Zheng Zhipeng also realized that they actually had an enemy named Lin who was a member of the Qianhu family in Zhejiang.

When Zheng Zhihu and Huang Cheng disappeared in Haojing, a tenant named Lin Hai also disappeared from the Huang family. Later, the Huang family went to Chenji Shipyard to inquire and found out that Li Guozhu's last ship had been returned to Lin Hai, so they knew at that time This person must be closely related to Huang Cheng's death.

Later, the Matsuura family suddenly expressed that they would temporarily suspend trade with Zheng Zhilong. According to the Hirado domain official who was close to Zheng Zhilong, this was because of a man named Lin Hai, whose identity had changed. He became Li Guozhu's sworn brother, and it is said that he was a Qianhu in Zhoushan, Zhejiang.

Not long ago, Zheng Zhilong specially sent someone to Zhoushan to inquire, and learned that there was a Qianhu named Lin Hai who had just taken office. Unexpectedly, before he went to trouble this Lin Hai, Lin Hai actually came to him.

"Quickly, go and ask if the person who reported the news is named Lin Hai?" Zheng Zhilong quickly instructed his clan brother Zheng Zhipeng to find out the situation.

Zheng Zhipeng then hurriedly asked the person who reported the news. After asking, he came back and said: "The boss guessed it right, it's the Lin Hai from Zhoushan Zhongzhong Institute!" "Lin Hai, it's this Lin Hai again." Zheng Zhilong grabbed the hand. The teacup he held was smashed to pieces on the ground with a bang, "Where did this person come from? Could it be that God sent him specifically to go against me?"

In the past year, Zheng Zhilong's life has been so smooth. At the age of only 21, he went from a mere general to the leader of the gang of thieves in Jingang, and he inherited the huge wealth left by his adoptive father Li Dan.

There were only three things that went wrong, but they were all related to Lin Hai. How could this not bother him?
After throwing the cup, Zheng Zhilong calmed down a little. He was not an impulsive person to begin with. On the contrary, he was very cautious in doing things. This is also the reason why he was able to remain in Fujian officialdom for 17 years.

He stayed in Fujian for 17 years, which was extremely rare among the military generals of the Ming Dynasty. The only person who could compare with him in this regard was Li Chengliang of the Wanli Dynasty, who was also a very capable person.

"I remember that this Lin Hai seemed to have sold millions of taels of goods in Japan? Mainly ginseng and mink skins?" Zheng Zhilong suddenly said something for no reason.

"Huh? Why did the leader suddenly talk about this?" Zheng Zhipeng was a little unable to keep up with his clan brother's thinking.

"Last year, a royal mission was robbed in Liaohai. Do you know about this?" Zheng Zhilong asked again.

"I know, wasn't that what Yuan Jin, the garrison of Dengzhou Shuiyou Camp, did? I heard that Yuan Jin was originally a subordinate of the old captain..." Zheng Zhipeng said and suddenly came to his senses, "Yiguan, don't you mean..."

"That's what I mean." Zheng Zhilong nodded and said, "I originally suspected that Li Yiguan did this, and then asked his sworn brother Lin Hai to sell the goods for him, but now I suspect that it was probably Lin Hai who did this. , this person is not simple!"

"That's right, that's right..." Zheng Zhipeng murmured, "The court also said that Yuan Jin colluded with Hongyi to do this. If Hongyi and others don't know about it, don't we brothers also know about it? There is no such thing at all. ."

"So I didn't believe it from the beginning, not to mention the millions of taels of ginseng and mink. Apart from the court angels, who could take it out at once? This Lin Hai took it out." Zheng Zhilong said and added, "This person He robbed the imperial envoys and even managed to infiltrate Qianhu, what a damn talent he is!"

Zheng Zhilong was quite annoyed when he said this. After all, what he, Zheng, was pursuing was the word "recruitment", but Lin Hai directly spent money to buy a thousand households.With this starting point and money to clear the way, won't it be easy to get promoted in the future?

This is really fucking comparing people to each other, it’s so irritating!

"Then why don't we file a lawsuit against him? If he is beaten to pieces by such a monstrous crime, he might as well be beaten to death for his small family, Xu Lao San." Zheng Zhipeng He suddenly said with excitement on his face.

"Who would believe what you said about the pirates?" Zheng Zhilong said, "What's more, since the court has already made a final decision on such a major matter, how could it easily reverse the case? Then wouldn't those high-ranking officials who had previously made the final decision have to suffer? ?”

In fact, what Zheng Zhilong said was also the reason why Lin Hai was confident. Otherwise, not only Yuan Jin's prisoners, but also his own men would not be able to appear in the Ming Dynasty.

"The boss is right." Zheng Zhipeng is not an uninformed person. The Zheng family is a wealthy family in Anhai, and many of them work as subordinate officials in the local yamen.

As he spoke, he added: "This guy surnamed Lin has ruined our good deeds time and time again. How about we just mobilize our troops, break through Xiamen City and kill him."

"It's easy for you to say. Is Xiamen City so easy to break down? Just from the fact that Huang Mingzuo can't contact the internal affairs department, we know that this is a hard nut to crack. We can only figure out how to deal with this Lin surnamed slowly... "

In fact, Zheng Zhilong not only did not dare to attack Xiamen City, he was also a little afraid that Lin Hai would come out of the city to cause trouble for him, but there was no need to say such words that would enhance others' ambition and destroy his own prestige.After all, he brought out a total of 2000 people this time, [-] of which were given to Chen Zhongji and Yang Tiansheng, and the latter had been defeated by Lin Hai.

"Then where should we march next? Haicheng has already plundered almost everything."

"What else are we going to do? Retreat!" Zheng Zhilong said, "We killed the Quannan guerrillas in this battle and recruited many new people in Zhangpu, Haicheng and other places. Let's go back to Singang to rest for a while."

Zheng Zhipeng said a little unwillingly: "What about the recruitment? That old thief Huang Mingzuo insisted that we kill Xu Laosan before he would help. Those bird gentry said it well in person, but when we retreat, we don't know if they will fulfill their promise." …”

"Brother, we can't rely on others for this matter. Even if we kill Xu Laosan, I don't think Huang Mingzuo will help us. He would like to hold our supply and lifeline in his hands just like he does now..."

Zheng Zhilong said and added: "We can only rely on ourselves to recruit people. I have thought about it. Taking advantage of the remaining power of the Quannan guerrillas this time, we will go back and straighten out the internal personnel. Next time, we will go to Guangdong. , take Li Kuiqi, Zhong Bin, Liu Xiang and the others with you."

"Aren't the bosses afraid that Li Kuiqi and the others will go too far and hinder the overall recruitment and security plan?"

"I have now figured it out. If I don't go too far, there is no way to recruit people. But we can't offend the gentry in Fujian easily, otherwise it will be difficult to get along in the officialdom in the future. But it doesn't matter in Guangdong. Anyway, we are not in Guangdong in the future. mix."

"But if we only attack Guangdong, will Fujian appease us?"

"Of course. The Guangdong gentry is the Guangdong gentry, and the Fujian gentry is the Fujian gentry. The two are basically irrelevant. But whether they are Guangdong officials or Fujian officials, they are Ming officials. No matter where we hurt the Ming Dynasty or the pressure from the court It mainly lies with Fujian officials, because Jingang is the trustworthy place of Fujian."

"It makes sense, it makes sense." Zheng Zhipeng nodded repeatedly when he heard this. In fact, he knew these truths, but for some reason, he wouldn't have been able to think so clearly if Zheng Zhilong hadn't said it.

"Send the order to retreat." Zheng Zhilong looked like he had the pearls of wisdom in hand, but in fact, there was always a dark cloud in his heart. For some reason, that Lin Hai always made him feel like a light on his back.

"Zheng Zhilong has withdrawn his troops?" Three days later, Lin Hai learned from Xu Xinsu that Zheng Zhilong had withdrawn his troops.

"Exactly. It's a pity that Mr. Yu is not here this time, so this guy got away..."

"Don't worry, third uncle. I don't think this guy can survive more than two days. Now that the Zheng thieves have retreated, my nephew is going back to Zhoushan, where there is still a batch of raw silk to collect."

Lin Hai immediately set off from Zhongzuo and returned. When passing through Tamsui, he heard an unexpected news. The Spanish fleet had arrived in Keelung a few days ago.

Zheng Tingqiu sent a boat to Zhongzuo Institute to inform Lin Hai at that time, but he probably missed Lin Hai at sea.

(End of this chapter)