King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

"Master."

Tang He was looking into the distance with a hint of anger in his heart, when a clear voice came from behind him.

Tang He turned around and saw Ma He standing respectfully with his head slightly lowered.

"Eunuch Ma." Tang He smiled and said, "But what instructions does His Highness have?"

"Your Highness has ordered me to ask the Japanese." Ma He said truthfully, "May I ask, sir, where are the Japanese left behind by the Fourth Prince being held now?"

"On the boat."

Tang He pointed to the ironclad warship in the distance and said, "You can go by yourself, eunuch."

"Yes."

Ma He spoke respectfully, bowed and turned to leave. Tang He glanced at his back indifferently and said nothing.

Based on his understanding of his son-in-law Zhu Tan, this kid would definitely not do something without a purpose.

I went to Beiping specifically to ask Prince Yan for this little eunuch, probably he will be of great use.

The thought flashed through his mind, and then he put it behind him. Tang He looked into the distance and shouted in a deep voice: "Divide the camps and patrol to see if there are any Japanese pirates who have escaped!"

"As for the things in the city, I want to see who dares to take advantage of it. Watch your claws!"

Ma He brought several people on this armored ship. These people were all under Zhu Tan's command and were best at interrogation.

After boarding the ironclad ship and stating their purpose, the officers and soldiers on the ship immediately led Ma He and his party down the cabin and walked to a remote room before speaking softly.

"Eunuch Ma, the people are inside, five in total."

The soldier said softly, "There are two people who can speak our language, and they are locked up separately."

"The remaining ones are like wild dogs. They start barking when you get close to them, so their mouths are blocked now."

"Okay, thank you very much."

Ma He nodded, pushed the door open, and immediately smelled an indescribable sour odor, as if sauerkraut that had been stored for several months had gone bad.

Looking closely, I realized that this cabin was originally used to store pickled vegetables. At this time, several Japanese pirates were trapped on the iron rack in the cabin, and huge pickle jars were neatly arranged in the cabin.

The smell naturally came from the pickle jar.

"Leave it to you."

Ma He waved his hand and said softly, "The prince has ordered that everything must be understood clearly, no matter how big or small."

"Yes, you will see."

The people in charge of the interrogation immediately grinned, then stepped forward and took out their belongings in front of the Japanese.

The long bag spread out in front of the Japanese pirates, revealing the various tools inside, which looked like miniature versions of axes, halberds, hooks and forks.

No matter how stupid they were or how they didn't speak the language, the pirates knew what was going to happen and immediately began to struggle violently. However, because there was something blocking their mouths, they could only utter muffled whimpers.

Ma He didn't care about these Japanese pirates. After all, they would definitely not survive once he knew the secrets they were telling.

He walked slowly forward, pushed open the side door of the cabin, and saw two other people tied to the iron rack inside.

The two men were dressed fairly decently, but their clothing was not Japanese, and was more in line with the common people of the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing Ma He coming in, the two people who were squatting immediately stood up, with their hands tied tightly, like two dogs tied to the ground.

Both of them looked pale, with fear in their eyes.

They knew what was waiting for them, so when they saw Ma He coming in, they immediately begged for mercy in their unfluent Chinese.

"Sir, please let me go."

"Sir, please, spare me."

The tone of both of them was a little clumsy, which made Ma He frown slightly, but he still spoke in a deep voice.

"Don't make any noise. I'm here to ask you to do something and to ask you some questions. If you do it well, you can live."

Upon hearing this, the two of them nodded continuously, with joy on their faces.

If you can live, who doesn't want to live?

Ma He looked around, finally sat down on a low pickle jar, and asked softly.

"Who are you?"

"Little, little one is from Saikaido, Chikuzen (Fukuoka)."

"The younger one is from Hizen (Nagasaki)."

“They are all Japanese.”

Ma He frowned slightly. Although he didn't care where they were talking about specifically, he remembered the two place names.

“Why did you come to Penghu?”

"The little one is..." One of them thought about it and didn't speak immediately, but the other one said directly: "Sir, the little one, the little one was swept here!"

"The Yamana Shogunate needed sailors, small coastal fishing, and people who knew how to sail, so..."

"The younger one was captured." When he spoke, the one who had come before him hurriedly said, "The younger one is a farmer!"

"A fisherman and a farmer." Ma He heard this, shook his head and smiled, saying, "They can't even lie."

Having said that, Ma He stood up and said in a deep voice: "Since you don't want to tell the truth, forget it, just wait for death."

After saying this, Ma He pushed the door and was about to leave.

Seeing that he was about to leave, one of them immediately shouted, "Sir, I am telling the truth!"

"It's been more than ten years since we were kidnapped. We haven't seen our families in more than ten years!"

As they spoke the latter part, both of them started to cry. Ma Hewei stopped walking, turned around and asked again.

"When did you learn Chinese?"

"After we get to Penghu!" One of them immediately said, "Someone will teach us. Let's learn."

"Who?"

"Park, from the Park family."

Upon hearing this, Ma He frowned immediately, turned around and asked again: "When did it start?"

"Only taught you?"

"Yes, more than three years." One of them said softly, "I have learned a lot."

“Not many survived.”

The man spoke in a very obscure way, but Ma He understood it.

After all, the Japanese pirates were engaged in a bloody business, so it was normal for them to risk life and death.

Even if the Ming Dynasty's coastal defense is riddled with holes, the soldiers still have some fighting power. Once these Japanese pirates are caught, they will definitely die.

Ma He's heart was slightly moved, and he asked again: "You said that the Yamana Shogunate arrested you, then what is this Yamana Shogunate?"

"Also, who are these people outside?"

"Oda-kun is our deputy leader. He is the one who brought us here. He is a retainer of the Yamana family!"

"The Yamana family is the shogunate of Nankaido!"

The two of them rushed to speak, as if they were afraid that Ma He would turn around and leave, taking away their last hope of life.

"Your deputy leader doesn't understand Chinese?"

Ma He narrowed his eyes slightly and asked softly, "Didn't the Park family teach him?"

"He..." One of them was about to speak, but a hint of fear suddenly appeared in his eyes, and he held back the rest of his words.

Ma He glanced at the two men. They were obviously very afraid of the man named Xiaotian outside, so much so that even if they were caught, they did not dare to tell anyone about the other party.

It seems that these pirates also have some tricks. However, even if the other party didn't say it at this moment, Ma He could guess the answer, and then he chuckled and said, "Since you don't want to talk now, I won't ask."

After saying that, Ma He pushed the door open and walked out. This time, even though he heard voices begging for mercy from behind, Ma He did not look back.

After coming out of the inner room, I saw that several people were ready for interrogation. The Japanese pirates had all taken off their shirts. Someone kept looking at their bodies, as if he was considering what tools to use.

“They all speak Chinese.”

Ma He glanced at a few people, then turned his attention to the Japanese pirates.

The Japanese are easy to identify, and you can tell who has a higher status by looking at their clothes.

His words startled the interrogators, and then they narrowed their eyes slightly.

Ma He looked at one of the Japanese and said softly, "Oda, right?"

The man's face darkened when he heard the words, and he looked up at Ma He. It was obvious that he understood what Ma He said.

"I advise you to speak up quickly to avoid suffering."

Ma He's voice was very soft and gentle, but it sounded like the whisper of a devil.

"Because later on, you'll speak anyway, it's just a waste of time."

Oda's eyes narrowed slightly, but he said nothing. He just gritted his teeth and stopped looking at him.

Ma He smiled and said to someone beside him, "Everything they said is recorded, and the prince will look at it personally."

"I won't bother you anymore. Go to the door. If you need anything, just call me."

"Don't worry, sir. It will be done."

Several people grinned and chuckled. Ma He just nodded and walked out.

He was not worried about these people's interrogation capabilities at all. As he said, it was only a matter of time before he could pry information out of these Japanese people.

After leaving the cabin, the sour smell that filled his mouth and nose disappeared. Ma He leaned on the railing of the ironclad ship, looking at the rising sun in the distance, with a slight smile on his face.

……

"Forehead……"

After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Tan slowly opened his eyes, stood up and looked outside. The sun had already set.

He stretched himself lazily, and before he could say anything, a personal soldier came in and asked softly, "Your Majesty is awake, would you like to have dinner?"

"Bring some."

Zhu Tan spoke with sleepy eyes and asked casually, "Where is Duke Xin?"

"The Lord is in the city trying to appease the indigenous people."

"He came once before, but he didn't disturb you because he saw that you were still asleep. He also told me to inform him when you woke up."

"Look..."

"Yes." Zhu Tan nodded and said, "Tell Duke Xin."

"Yes."

The personal soldier went down, and soon someone brought the meal, two sea fishes, two pickles, and two buns.

Zhu Tan picked up the bun and took a bite. Just as he swallowed it, he heard Tang He's voice outside.

"Your Highness."

"Father-in-law, come in quickly."

Zhu Tan smiled and waved, "Have you eaten?"

Tang He walked in with big strides, sat directly next to Zhu Tan, and said with a smile: "I have eaten."

"Your Highness, there is a farmland nearby that was previously reclaimed by the Park family. The vegetables there are growing well. I have sent some to the kitchen and they should be served soon."

“How much farmland has the Park family reclaimed around here?”

Since the Pu family has brought people to Penghu Island, they naturally want to cultivate farmland. Zhu Tan is not surprised by this.

"There are probably thousands of acres around the city."

Tang He said, "But it's a difficult thing now."

"The Fourth Prince took away all the people of the Park family, including the tenants who worked the land for them."

"Now these lands are all barren, and I don't know what to do with them."

Zhu Tan took another bite of the bun and said nothing. Seeing that he was silent, Tang He continued, "I counted and found that there are only about 400 natives living in the city now."

"I have also asked around. There are still many natives in the distant mountains, but they are very hostile to outsiders."

"It was mainly because the Japanese pirates caused them a lot of trouble and killed many of their people."

"Now when they see outsiders, they think they are robbers and will use knives directly."

This situation was similar to what Zhu Tan had expected. The Japanese pirates wanted to establish a stronghold in Penghu, which would definitely affect the natives, and killing people was inevitable.

Moreover, it will not be a short process to make these people believe in the Ming Dynasty.

"Don't think about it, natives."

Zhu Tan swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "Please write a letter to the court in my name and ask the emperor to issue an edict to move some people here."

"The Ming Dynasty needs to build warships in Penghu. Port construction and the like requires manpower, and we can't rely solely on the soldiers of the Dusi."

Then he looked at Tang He and said, "Also, this is the territory of our Ming Dynasty. It is unreasonable to have no people from the Ming Dynasty."

Tang He thought about it and nodded, "Okay, I'll arrange for someone to write it."

A veteran military officer like Tang He must have been surrounded by staff and clerks, so writing a memorial would not be a difficult task for him.

"Your Highness, what are we going to do next?"

Tang He asked again: "We are going to stay in Penghu temporarily?"

"Building a port or something like that, the court should send people here."

"I don't know what the old man means now." Zhu Tan said: "But the imperial decree to conquer Japan has not been officially issued yet, so we can't act rashly."

"Besides, this expedition requires twenty ironclad ships, and it will take time to build them."

"Let's camp here for now." Zhu Tan took another bite of the bun and said, "Let's build the camp for the soldiers first, and then we can deal with other things later."

"Let's wait until the people sent by the court arrive."

Hearing this, Tang He nodded slightly and said, "That's all we can do for now."

"Oh, by the way, please arrange for your soldiers to look after the surrounding fields. We will keep all the food and fodder we collect, except for the food given to the natives in the city."

"With the sea between us, it's unlikely that we can rely on the central supply center. We have to be self-sufficient first."

"Ask about it in the proposal to my father. I want to go to Ryukyu and ask what he thinks."

"Ryukyu?" Tang He asked, "Your Highness, do you plan to station a group of people in Ryukyu?"

"Of course." Zhu Tan was full, so he put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a towel, and then said, "If the Japanese pirates want to disturb the Ming Dynasty, Ryukyu is the place they must pass through."

"Ryukyu is a small country with few people. I'm afraid they don't have the ability to control the entire territory. We will only help them if we go there."

After hearing this, Tang He knew what Zhu Tan was planning.

In the future, when we conquer Japan and take over its entire territory, Japan will definitely be incorporated into the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Station troops in Ryukyu in advance, and then even Ryukyu will be included in the territory.

I don’t know what the old man would think about this, but the King of Ryukyu would definitely agree with it. They have long wanted the Ming Dynasty to set up a provincial capital there and have written to the old man several times.

But Ryukyu is too small, not very profitable, and seems to be a losing business, so the old man has never been willing to do so. (End of this chapter)