There was no doubt about the victory. In just ten minutes, the Japanese pirates were defeated and fled.
After spending so much effort, how could they allow the Japanese pirates to escape alive? The soldiers began a one-sided game of chicken.
After about half an hour, the Ming army gathered together again, and all the escaped Japanese pirates, except for a few, were beheaded.
"Master Thirteen, this is a great victory!" Zhang Qianhu was filled with joy.
Zhu Jinghong nodded and said: "Today's achievements are all due to the bravery of the soldiers. I will ask the Holy One for the merits on your behalf!"
Look, this is the Thirteenth Master. As soon as he opens his mouth, he is asking for credit from the Holy One.
For these middle- and lower-level officers, their merits are most likely to be reviewed by the Dusi, and their chances of being known by the Ministry of War are slim, let alone by the emperor.
"Thank you, Thirteenth Master!" Everyone bowed in unison.
Then everyone started to finish things off. The injured soldiers needed to be rescued, and the battlefield also needed to be cleaned...
Paying attention to the direction in which Hou Jing left, Zhu Jinghong was still a little anxious, fearing that something might happen to Hou Jing and others.
But normally, as long as Hou Jing and the others are better equipped and have a huge advantage in numbers, they should be able to defeat the Japanese pirates with a steady attack.
"Master Thirteen, they are back..."
Hearing the reminder while thinking, Zhu Jinghong raised his head and looked into the distance, and sure enough he saw smoke and dust rising in the distance.
"It seems that they did not return without success!" Zhu Jinghong smiled.
He had already seen several horses carrying people, presumably the captured prisoners.
Before they even get close, they can hear the cheers of Hou Jing and others. It seems that the result of this battle is good.
"Master Thirteen, I have captured him for you!"
Okamoto Masahide and several followers were tied up. They were first pulled off their horses by Hou Jing and smashed to the ground, and then dragged with Zhang Lin to Zhu Jinghong.
"Master Thirteen, this guy is the leader!"
"We were chasing after him just now, and everyone else stayed behind to break up, but he was the only one escaping with his two followers!"
Okamoto Masahide is very young, no more than twenty years old. At this moment, he is constantly looking around, his expression full of panic.
He was so crazy just now, but now he is so cowardly.
"What's your name?" Zhu Jinghong asked in a deep voice.
"Master Thirteen, this guy is Japanese and can't understand the language of our country. We need someone who understands their bird language to translate!"
After saying this, Hou Jing pulled the other prisoner off his horse and kicked the man who was pretending to be dead to wake up.
"Don't you know how to talk about Japanese pirates? Get up and translate!"
"Yes, yes... the villain will do as he is told, the villain will do as he is told!" The man on the ground replied repeatedly.
"Who is he?" Zhu Jinghong asked the "translator" directly.
"Back to General, this person has just arrived here not long ago. He should be a big shot, but I don't know his identity..."
"General, I am also a good citizen. I just traveled with the caravan and learned some Japanese dialect. I am also a good person..."
"Two days ago, I was also forced to become a thief..."
Zhu Jinghong said in a deep voice: "Ask him what his identity is!"
So the man conveyed Zhu Jinghong's words in Japanese.
Even at this moment, Okamoto Masahide is unwilling to give up survival. At this moment, he has thought of many ways.
"My name is Masahide Okamoto, and I am the son of General Okamoto of Japan. This time I was coerced by my subordinates, and then..."
Okamoto Masahide began to reply, and the man on the side translated directly, and an interrogation began.
At present, Japan is still under the shogun system, but the current shogun is not the Tokugawa family, but the so-called Okamoto family.
"We in Japan are very loyal to His Majesty the Ming Emperor. My father also pays homage to the west every day..."
"Our two countries are monarchs and ministers, and we are father and son connected by blood. There are some misunderstandings now... It's all our fault!"
According to Okamoto Masahide, he came to the Ming Dynasty to travel, but was kidnapped by Japanese pirates to put up a front, and that's why he ended up like this.
In a word, he has nothing to do with the Japanese pirates, everything is a misunderstanding.
"I hope the general will forgive us. I will be rewarded generously when I return to Japan!"
At this time, Okamoto Masahide pretended not to know Zhu Jinghong's identity in order to survive.
"Money, women, land... I can give you whatever you want!"
"My family has some friends in the Ming Dynasty, and some of them are still in the imperial court. The promotion of generals can also help!"
When Zhu Jinghong heard these words, he felt a little funny.
After all, the girl from the Zhen family just told him this an hour ago.
At this moment, he already knew that the "young master" that the Zhen family girl was referring to was this person.
I think that Mr. Okamoto was responsible for the burning and killing of the villagers earlier.
"Master Thirteen, this guy doesn't know your identity yet, why don't you tell him?"
Zhu Jinghong did not answer, but asked the guards on the left and right: "What do you think should be done with this person?"
Most of the Dragon Guards will be generals in the future, and Zhu Jinghong wants to hear their opinions.
Zhang Lin immediately said: "Master Thirteen, I will kill you with one knife. There are not many truths in this guy's mouth!"
Lu Yuxin on the side said: "After all, this person is the young master of Japan. Killing him rashly... I'm afraid it won't be good, so it's better to leave it to the court to deal with him!"
"Hou Jing, what do you think?"
"Thirteenth Master, I also think it's better to be cautious!"
Zhu Jinghong nodded slightly and said: "I understand, he is from Japan after all...Young Master, he is also a person of some status, and he really cannot be dealt with hastily!"
Their conversation was also relayed to Masahide Okamoto through a translator, who immediately became hopeful after hearing it.
As long as he doesn't die now and is handed over to the Ming court, there will be room for change.
Thinking of this, Okamoto Masahide was overjoyed, and at the same time he felt contempt for Zhu Jinghong.
Of course, all these thoughts were in his heart, and he couldn't even see them on his face.
"After all, I am the young master of Japan. If I impose national laws... wouldn't it embarrass both countries?"
"In my opinion, it's better to just let it go!"
Zhu Jinghong's words surprised everyone present.
You were shouting about beating and killing just now, now you want to let someone go again so soon? Just because the other party is the so-called "young master" of Japan?
You are the son of the Ming Emperor, why are you afraid of such a thing?
Everyone was puzzled. Even Masahide Okamoto, who heard the translation, thought he had heard it wrong.
"Master Thirteen, this... I'm afraid it's not appropriate!"
Zhu Jinghong didn't want to say more and immediately ordered: "That's it, untie the rope around him and let him go..."
"Thirteenth Master..." Hou Jing wanted to persuade him again.
"Let him go!"
Seeing Zhu Jinghong's resolute attitude, Hou Jing and others had no choice but to reluctantly untie the rope.
"Thank you, General. I will be well rewarded when I return to Japan!"
After hearing the translation, Zhu Jinghong said with a smile: "For the sake of diplomatic relations between the two countries, I will let you go today. Go away quickly...be a good person in the future!"
Until now, Okamoto Masahide still felt it was unrealistic, but under Zhu Jinghong's sincere gaze, he turned around and ran away.
Every time he took a few steps, the guy would look back and all he saw was Zhu Jinghong's smile.
After running thirty or forty meters, Okamoto Masahide finally relaxed and ran away without looking back.
Seeing him running further and further away, Zhu Jinghong said to the guard on the side: "Bring the bow..."
ah?
Everyone was confused, and the guard next to him was full of doubts and handed over Zhu Jinghong's strong bow.
With his bow and arrow ready, Zhu Jinghong looked around with a smile and asked, "Do you think... can this arrow hit the target?"
At this point, everyone knows that Zhu Jinghong has no intention of letting Okamoto Masahide go.
"Of course Thirteenth Master can hit the mark with his amazing shot!" Hou Jing was the first to speak.
Zhu Jinghong laughed twice, and then the arrow whistled away.
Masahide Okamoto had already run sixty or seventy meters. Just when he was feeling happy, he felt severe pain in his thigh, causing him to fall directly to the ground.
Who wants to kill himself? Could it be that Zhu Shisan couldn't even suppress his subordinates?
Okamoto Masahide was confused, so he endured the pain and stood up, suppressed the fear and despair in his heart, and turned around to see the situation.
However, the next moment, another arrow hit his shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground again.
He saw clearly that it was Zhu Jinghong who was holding the bow. The man who claimed to let him go was actually lying to himself...
Fear, fear, shame...
How hopeful Okamoto Masahide was just now, how desperate he is now.
He really doesn't want to die, he still has a great life, and he really, really wants to live!
Gathering up the last bit of courage, Okamoto Masahide stood up and tried to escape forward...
However, the third arrow shot directly through his throat.
He fell to the ground and made a few "gurgles" just like Yamamoto Takao. Okamoto Masahide stopped moving.
After killing Okamoto Masahide, Zhu Jinghong felt a little better. How could he let Okamoto go? This was Jinling!
This group of Japanese pirates likes to torture and kill people the most. Today, he also gave this guy three arrows, which can be regarded as treating him in his own way.
Throwing the bow to the guard beside him, Zhu Jinghong said to the trembling translator: "I heard that there are still some remaining Japanese pirates on the island. Go tell them that the Thirteenth Master of the Ming Dynasty killed their Japanese young master!"
"If they have the guts, they can come to me for revenge!"
"Sir, have mercy on me, my lord, have mercy on me..." The translator kowtowed repeatedly.
He is a person who cherishes his life very much, and naturally he does not want to be tortured and killed by Zhu Jinghong like Okamoto Masahide.
"If you don't get out, I'll kill you right now!"
After being untied, the translator had no choice but to run eastward with all his strength, and even moved in a serpentine manner.
Just when everyone thought that this man would also be shot, Zhu Jinghong made no move.
"Master Thirteen, if you really let this guy go, you'll have to chase him on horseback if he runs away again!"
Zhu Jinghong didn't take it seriously and said: "He ran away. Just let him tell the Japanese pirates at sea that daring to go ashore will lead to death!"
Is this really the case?
This is certainly not the case. Zhu Jinghong shot Okamoto Masahide and let the Japanese pirates know, just to let the news spread to Japan and see the reaction of the shogun.
No matter what the other party's reaction is, it will have a negative impact on the diplomatic relations between the two countries. When the other party refuses to accept it, they can be beaten.
Acting like this at the same time once again proved that Zhu Jinghong acted recklessly, which was tantamount to causing trouble for the court and the emperor.
Zhu Jinghong himself needed to make this mistake in order to neutralize the great contribution he wanted to make next.
Otherwise, if you perform too well, you will easily get into trouble. After all, Gao Shuyan is already wary of him.
Therefore, he must maintain his character as a reckless man in order to alleviate the suspicion of the Crown Prince and Prince Rui.
Although the Thirteenth Brother is popular and knows how to fight, he is still a simple-minded and impulsive guy...
If the prince and Prince Rui think so, Zhu Jinghong will be grateful.
Of course, he believed that the shrewd father could see his shining point.
(End of chapter)
