Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 812 The Emperor’s Wrath

Today in the Ming Dynasty, there is indeed a lack of manpower.

Since Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Yuan Dynasty, he has made every effort, but now only more than ten years have passed. The lack of Dingkou is still the first-class problem hanging over the Ming court.

After accepting the advice of Zhu Biao, Zhu Su, Song Lian and others, Lao Zhu agreed to reduce the penalties for criminals in the Ming Dynasty. Except for those who committed heinous crimes, other felons were mostly exiled to death, and the punishment for the Nine Clans was also changed to The nine tribes were exiled, all just to mobilize more manpower to explore foreign lands in foreign lands.

Therefore, it makes sense for Li Jinglong to speculate that Lao Zhu might leave these religious bandits behind to develop the remote Dawan Island.

However, Li Jinglong ultimately lacked perspective. Dawan Island has a special geographical location and is crucial to the Maritime Silk Road. It is also close to the mainland of the Ming Dynasty and can be called a bridgehead in the southeastern waters of the Ming Dynasty. How could the imperial court hand over this place to the bandits?

As Zhu Su said in his letter to Li Jinglong: It is impossible to allow thieves to sleep peacefully beside the couch.

On the other hand, Lao Zhu returned to Beijing a few days ago and after dealing with Tang Shengzong and Lu Zhongheng, he became furious at the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty at the court meeting.

The emperor's anger was nothing more than the fact that the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty were slacking off when they saw that life was getting better these days, which caused such big troubles to appear in the Ming Dynasty.

There are generals and nobles in the country who feel they have been wronged, so they have the intention of going to sea to support themselves, not to mention those who have already fought in foreign lands... Could it be that in the future, the orders of the dignified Emperor Hongwu will not be able to leave the Ming Dynasty?

The officials expressed their inexplicable injustice to the emperor's outburst, but they did not dare to say anything.

Lao Zhu's map cannon was actually a reprimand to hundreds of civil and military officials: Don't think so much that you can escape from the Ming Dynasty if you commit a crime and establish yourself as a king in foreign lands. The Marquis of Ji'an and the Marquis of Yan'an are your role models!

Regarding this issue, Zhu Su actually didn't think it mattered. After all, the Ming Dynasty's policy of opening up territories is still just in its infancy. If foreign countries want to gain a foothold, they must not do without the support of the Ming Dynasty... And even if there are foreign leaders with different aspirations in the future, there is nothing they can do about it. As long as that place still adheres to Chinese culture, it will definitely not be completely separated from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, it also asked the officials to come up with a clause that would strengthen the Ming Dynasty's control over foreign countries... to prevent this policy of opening up territories from raising many white-eyed wolves, and in the future, many distant countries would be dissatisfied and endanger their own country.

To be fair, that Fang Tuozi looked mighty and unyielding, and it was not because he had no luck at all: the Ming court was extending its tentacles to all directions, but did not have a sufficient number of navy soldiers, so at this time in Nanyang , it is a time when there is an extreme shortage of available manpower.

But it is precisely because of this... At this moment, it is absolutely impossible for the imperial court to allow the White Lotus Sect to flourish outside. Even Lao Zhu, a vassal general from the Ming Dynasty, wanted to use this incident to beat him up. How could Lao Zhu, a born rebel like the White Lotus Sect, a dangerous element who covets the Ming Dynasty's orthodoxy, allow the other party to surrender just to save manpower?

Although the White Lotus Sect has always been at odds with the imperial court, they are still Han after all. It is better for them to occupy these lands in Nanyang than to give these lands to the Western Yi. If these big figures from the Ming Dynasty in front of them could see the heroic spirit of people like themselves, maybe they would start to love talents and want to conquer the White Lotus Sect?

After all, this is how it is played out in the story, so isn't this a clever tactic to delay the attack?

But he didn't expect that Zhu Su would bluntly expose his inner thoughts and declare on the spot that he would kill the White Lotus Sect... Fang Zuozi immediately became excited. He ignored his broken limbs and struggled. He wanted to break free from the shackles of the Ming troops on both sides and rush towards Zhu Su. He yelled: "Zhu, you...you villain! How could the shopkeeper, a hero, die at the hands of a kid like you..."

"Ha." Zhu Su couldn't deny it. He waved his hand and said to his left and right: "Take him down and put him in a prison with other captured bandits. Wait until tomorrow, and I will bring him to trial in person!" Everyone obeyed his orders. After dragging Fang Tuozi down, a Ming soldier heard that he was still yelling and cursing, so he simply knocked the animal unconscious with the handle of his knife. Zhu Su didn't even look at it. He turned around and called Tang He, Chang Mao and others: "It's nightfall today, and we're here for the first time... It's better to order the three armies to enter the harbor and rest on the spot, and we'll make plans tomorrow."

"Your Highness, aren't you going to chase those religious bandits who have fled into the mountains?" Chang Mao was gearing up. He couldn't wait to finally get another opportunity to go out to Beijing to make meritorious deeds. "Those who teach bandits are very good. If you don't bite them hard, you won't know where they will go after a night."

"Your Highness, Duke Xin and the Li brothers will stay here for a while, and let me, Lao Chang, take the people to capture the bandits... How about that?"

"Young man from the Chang family, please be patient. The bandits are always cunning. If you chase them at night, wouldn't it be dangerous if you are ambushed?" Tang He chuckled.

"Just sit back, those soldiers are all members of my Ming Dynasty. The Holy Spirit has appointed us to lead the army, so we should take it as a plan for the Ming Dynasty. We should not use Ming Dynasty's family wealth to take unnecessary risks. As the saying goes, know yourself and the enemy, and you will never be in danger in a hundred battles. Now this road teaches We don't know exactly where the bandits came from... We will investigate first and then pursue them." The old man seemed a little slow.

"The birds don't poop here, how can we find out where these thieves are coming from?" Chang Mao was obviously impatient. "Besides, the thief with the tumor on his face is not an easy person to deal with at first glance. If you want to extract the thief's background from his mouth, it will be even harder than climbing to heaven. If you can't get it out, Can't we just sit here?"

"Don't be anxious, don't be anxious. The most important thing is not to rush into leading troops to fight..." Tang He still looked like an old god.

"Be at ease and don't be impatient, be at peace and don't be impatient...it depends on His Highness's arrangements."

"Your Highness, I am old, so I will leave all matters here to be arranged by Your Highness... I have been sleepy for days, so I will take my leave first." After saying that, he yawned loudly and retreated to the cabin.

"Mr. Xin Guo, go slowly." Zhu Su stood up and saw him off.

Chang Mao and Li Jinglong looked at each other, wondering what arrangement Zhu Su had made to find out the origins of these thieves.

Seeing that Tang He had left, Li Jinglong, at Chang Mao's signal, came up to ask Zhu Su for advice. Zhu Su glanced at him angrily and said, "The mouth of the gangster with the tumor cannot be pried open. Can’t the captured thief be pried open?”

"If you can save me some worries...how could you end up asking me to clean up your mess?"

"... If you want to avoid losing the reputation of your Duke Cao, just learn! If you want to stand alone, there is still a long way to go!"

(End of this chapter)