"What are you talking about? You idiot, you are seeking death today..." Liang Kun almost gritted his steel teeth and spat out these words word by word. He had forgotten the pain in his leg and actually pulled it apart. Jin Changsen, who was blocking the road, strode towards the water dog.
The command sword at his waist had been halfway withdrawn, and the angry general was ready to chop the villain alive who was inciting dissension.
Rumors that Xiao Letian was dead had long circulated in Naha, but with the unanimous denial by civil and military officials, the common people knew that this was just a trick by the enemy and a poisonous plan to disrupt the morale of the army.
The Prime Minister is still alive, and Xiao Letian is still alive. This politician who led the rise of Ryukyu is now fighting for greater interests for everyone in Europe. This is the consensus reached by Ryukyu.
How could the tiny Ryukyu Islands, an island country that had just been civilized for more than a year, have the courage to go to war with France, an old imperialist power? How could they hold out for five days under the bombing of the French without surrendering?
You must know that six years ago, even the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the most powerful country in Asia, was no match for the French. Even the imperial palace was burned down.
Without the existence of Xiao Letian, all this would be impossible. It was Xiao Letian who single-handedly established a new Western-style army. It was the Prime Minister who spent a lot of money to build a fort that could threaten French warships. It was also the Lotte Foreign Company that he planned to build that worked hard to mobilize With a massive amount of supplies, everything gave the Ryukyuan people the confidence to fight against the French expeditionary force.
More importantly, with Xiao Letian's disdainful efforts, Ryukyu has become the most popular in East Asia, and the people here already have the most rudimentary concepts of country and nationalism.
It is this strong spiritual cohesion that allows hundreds of thousands of people to not collapse or surrender when faced with an invasion by a foreign enemy. Instead, they are able to unite and fight against the enemy with one heart and one mind.
Xiao Letian is a hero in the hearts of the people of Ryukyu. There is hope for him. If he dies, hope will die. During this time, hundreds of thousands of people in Ryukyu dare not mention the fact that Xiao Letian is dead, even if they If you have fear in your heart, you will bury this fear deep in your heart.
Because they knew that if they believed this rumor, there would be a big riot within Ryukyu within a short time.
How could Liang Kun allow Shuigou to talk nonsense here? The command knife in his hand was slowly being drawn out, and his cold eyes were wandering around Shuigou's body, as if he was looking for the best place to strike.
Jin Changsen was pulled aside by him. Lin Yuanmiao tried to stop him but was knocked away. Even King Shang Tai couldn't pull his military uniform behind him. Now Liang Kun was already furious.
"General, please don't do it. You can't do it. How can we, Ryukyu, bear the reputation of killing envoys? We need to be calm during major events. You can't let anger go to your head..."
King Shangtai, Jin Changsen, and Lin Yuanmiao were behind Liang Kun and tried to persuade him. The combined strength of the three of them could not hold back the furious Liang Kun, which showed how angry the general was.
But at this time, the water dog was actually not afraid. He knelt on the ground and stared at Liang Kun with his neck tilted. He stared at him with arrogant eyes, as if to say, if you have the guts, come and chop me, I will move anywhere. Your grandson.
Water Dog is worthy of being a pirate. Although he laughs and scolds freely on the surface, he really doesn't let go at critical moments. He is also a ruthless character.
Cai Hao couldn't stand it anymore. He stood in front of Liang Kun, grabbed the right hand holding the knife and put the command knife back into the scabbard with all his strength.
"General Liang, I understand how you feel, but we can't kill him... There is no reason in the world for others to kill someone if they say something that is out of temper."
After all, Liang Kun was injured, and his strength was not as strong as Cai Hao's. He struggled two or three times but still couldn't pull out the command knife. Liang Kun was so angry that he started to speak indiscriminately.
"Okay, okay, I finally know you. It turns out that you have believed the rumors from the beginning. From the beginning, you have suspected that the Prime Minister is dead, right?"
"I finally understand what you are doing. Your previous resistance was simply because the French did not leave you a way out. You had to fight to save your lives. Now that the negotiators are here, your hearts are alive, right? .”
"Let me guess again. You have other plans in mind. If you fight harder now, you can still defraud more resources from foreign companies. Otherwise, you still want to resist with your strength, bah..."
"Not only that, don't even try to hide your dirty thoughts from me. If you use the hands of our new army to beat you harder, it might as well add some chips to future surrender negotiations. In the final analysis, it is still Your own interests."
Liang Kun was so angry that he said, "Hahaha... Okay, this is how you repay the Prime Minister's kindness. What will be the final outcome of our new army? I'm afraid we won't be able to escape the fate of being betrayed..."
These words were so heart-wrenching. King Shang Tai and Cai Hao turned green when they heard this. The faces of the New Army soldiers around them all turned pale with fright. No one thought that behind the illusion of harmony, Ryukyu There is actually such a crack hidden within the top management.
Shuigou sighed in his heart, "Hey... Master is really a man of genius. When he was in Shanghai, he had already guessed the rift between the old and new forces in the Ryukyu Kingdom. The indigenous forces and foreign forces are not so easy to stick together. If Xiao Letian Still there, if he is safe, this rift can be slowly mended, but now."
Cai Mao is a soldier, and soldiers are very straightforward in their emotions. Liang Kun's words almost made him cry. The eyes of the head of the Ryukyu Navy were filled with tears.
"Liang Kun... you are so angry today. I won't argue with you, a stupid person who is seriously injured. I will wait for you to apologize to me after you calm down. Either you kill me today or go back to bandage your wounds and rest... …”
King Shangtai was also angry at this time. No matter how young he was, he was the recognized king of Ryukyu after all. He couldn't stand being bullied by his generals with such words.
"General Liang, are you mad today? Don't tell me whether what the messenger said is true or false. You just let him provoke him so easily with just one word. Isn't the friendship between you and me, our king and our ministers, no better than that of a pirate?" Are you talking nonsense?"
King Shang Tai's chest heaved violently and he shouted, "Come here...help the general down to rest and bandage the wound...Why are you so dazed? I am the king of Ryukyu, and you don't even listen to my words."
Looking at the furious king, the soldiers did not dare to hesitate. A group of people ran over to help Liang Kun and put him on the stretcher. At this time, Liang Kun was also scolded by King Shangtai to wake up a little. In this era, the idea of loyalty to the emperor is still very strong. , Liang Kun could only bow his head.
When the stretcher was carried out, Liang Kun said quietly, "In this world, besides the Prime Minister, who else can we trust?"
After sending away the rude Liang Kun, the water dog returned to his original playful smile. He didn't need anyone else to give him permission, he patted the dirt on his knees and stood up.
"Your Majesty, gentlemen, please give me an accurate letter so that I can return to the sea for business. If you are willing to talk, then let my master come ashore to interview in person. If you are not willing to talk, we will sail back to Shanghai. , it’s not a big deal to blow the sea breeze and eat salted fish every day on the sea, what do you think?”
Cai Mao hated Shui Gou's villainous face, especially the tone in which such honorifics sounded like curses. He gave Shui Gou a cold look and said angrily.
"Just because of your bad mouth, I can think of what kind of person Gong Cheng is. Are you very proud now? A single word can cause conflicts and rifts between us Ryukyu monarchs and ministers."
"Let me remind you, General Liang has a bloody friendship with us. Today he is just injured and a little emotionally unstable. Don't think you can sow discord and clamp down on your bad mouth..."
Bang, bang, bang, three crisp sounds. It turned out that the water dog raised his hand and gave himself three big mouths. The force was so strong that blood was drawn from his face.
"The general is scolding me, General Xie is scolding me. My bad mouth is really annoying. I hate it myself... Calm down your anger. I'll give you a few more crisp words..." After finishing speaking, Open the bow left and right and click twice again.
This is a typical bully. Face is of no use to this kind of person. Cai Mao gritted his teeth and had no good way to deal with it.
Jin Changsen can't stand the farce anymore. "Negotiations must be done with sincerity. Gong Cheng wants to be the middleman in the peace talks. I would like to ask the French if he agrees. If so, how much control can he have?"
When Shui Gou heard this, his thumbs turned up, "Master Jin, this is a mature way of planning a country. He gets to the point in just one sentence... This matter is simple. My master said that as long as you agree to negotiate, tomorrow He will go to the island, and we guarantee that the warship will not fire a single shot during the negotiation. You think this is sincerity enough."
"As for how much control my master can have, it depends on the perspective of His Majesty and your lords... To tell you the truth, most of the French expeditionary force this time is the navy, and the army only has a few thousand people. From the beginning to the end, their plan was not to occupy Ryukyu, or to overthrow Your Majesty's rule..."
"Look, I have overthrown the foundation of the French. You are all smart people. In the subsequent analysis, why do you think I am a chatty servant?"
It has to be said that the slaves trained by Gong Cheng are as sharp-tongued as he himself, and they have already grasped the lifeblood of Ryukyu monarchs and ministers with just two sentences.
The subtext is obvious. Are you afraid of the crazy bombings on this day? A lot of people were killed or injured. What you need most now is time to lick your wounds. As long as Gong Cheng is allowed ashore, the French will not start a war. This will give Ryukyu soldiers and civilians A moment of respite.
Another subtext is that I, Gong Cheng, know everything about the French. Don’t you Ryukyus want to get some information from me?
When King Shangtai heard this, he couldn't help sighing and feeling secretly sad, "No wonder the Prime Minister said more than once that villains and traitorous officials have great talents since ancient times. Their understanding of human hearts is enough to make people sigh and sigh."
Thinking of this, King Shangtai said calmly, "Your Majesty, please go back and resume your duties now. Please ask Mr. Gong to come ashore tomorrow morning."
"Come on, I'll do it now. Long live your majesty, long live, long live your majesty."
