In Wuying Hall, Xu Huizu was waiting anxiously. Hearing a voice from behind, he quickly turned around and saw Zhu Yunwen walking vigorously.
"No need to salute, just say it."
Zhu Yunwen walked swiftly and resolutely, walked past Xu Huizu, sat down behind the desk.
Xu Huizu quickly took out the report document. After Shuangxi took it, he handed it to Zhu Yunwen.
"Your Majesty, Zheng He fought against the Japanese bandits in the sea outside Ningbo Prefecture. He destroyed 26 Japanese pirate ships and killed more than 700 Japanese bandits. This was a great victory."
Xu Huizu said solemnly.
Zhu Yunwen unfolded the report and glanced at it a few times, then said: "If it was just a great victory, there would be no need for you to rush into the palace to ask for an audience. Tell me, what else is there that I don't know about?"
Xu Huizu looked stern and said: "Your Majesty, the Taizhou Guard captured some Japanese bandits. After interrogation, we learned that the rampant Japanese bandits along the coast are actually related to one person. Zheng He has led his fleet south now, and it is for this person! "
"who?"
Zhu Yunwen's eyes became sharp.
Xu Huizu gritted his teeth and said, "Chen Zuyi!"
"Chen Zuyi?!"
Zhu Yunwen frowned slightly, this name was not unfamiliar!
A man who was captured by Zheng He and had his head chopped off by Zhu Di.
But now that Zheng He hasn't even sailed to the West, this guy is already jumping around?
Xu Huizu said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, this Chen Zuyi is not ordinary, he is an extremely powerful pirate leader."
"Oh?" Zhu Yunwen was disapproving and asked: "How powerful?"
With Xu Huizu's introduction, Chen Zuyi's power was revealed, making Zhu Yunwen completely put aside his contempt.
Chen Zuyi is a native of Chaozhou, Guangdong.
During the Hongwu period, due to committing a crime, Chen Zuyi and his family fled to Bolin State in Srivijaya (now Indonesia) in Southeast Asia.
Wu Li, the leader of Mana in Bolin State, saw that Chen Zuyi was very good at doing things and often took property, which could bring him a lot of benefits, so he made him a general.
Chen Zuyi thus gained a foothold. After the king of Bolin State died, Chen Zuyi gathered many pirates and proclaimed himself king and emperor.
But the throne cannot stop Chen Zuyi, after all, the pirate flag is calling him.
I don’t know if there was “ONE PIECE” at that time, but Chen Zuyi was obviously a man who wanted to have wealth, fame, and power.
As a result, the pirate flag was flying high, with great momentum and strength growing day by day.
With strength comes courage
, all passing ships were robbed, and many coastal towns were also robbed.
Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally unhappy after hearing this.
It's just that Chen Zuyi was very cunning. He escaped several times during the Ming Dynasty navy's attacks. The sea is vast and it is not easy to find someone. Lao Zhu has no choice but to start offering a reward.
Take a piece of paper, draw a picture of Chen Zuyi, and then write the reward amount:
Five hundred thousand taels of silver.
Another sentence: regardless of life or death.
Later, Zhu Di came to power and continued to play this trick, but Zhu Di was much more heroic than Zhu Yuanzhang. The amount of the reward was written as:
Seven and a half million silver.
Well, at that time, the Ming Dynasty's annual tax revenue was only 10 million, and it directly spent 75%.
From a certain point of view, Chen Zuyi is probably the most valuable pirate's head in the world, much more valuable than those heads that can easily cost billions of Baileys.
But having said that, bounty is still very useful in the Mainland. If you mobilize the masses and look through every house, you can always find someone. But Chen Zuyi is not on the mainland, but in Nanyang. Even if the reward is issued, no one can win it, right?
After all, the bounty hunter profession has not developed yet, so Lao Zhu can only stare at the bounty order and feel depressed.
In fact, the bounty order can only deal with small and inconspicuous characters. By the time of Zhu Yunwen, Chen Zuyi had become a veritable pirate king.
"The Point Guard Is Here"
He has over 10,000 pirates, over 100 warships, and countless small boats. His plunder ranges from the Nanyang Sea to the Guangzhou Sea, the Ryukyu Sea, the East China Sea, and later, has developed to the vicinity of the Japanese Sea.
Such a powerful pirate force cannot be solved by just sending a few ships.
Last year, Li Jinglong left the capital to go to Guangzhou. The direct reason was the rampant pirates in Guangzhou, and the mastermind behind it was Chen Zuyi!
Now the Japanese bandits are gathering and attacking on a large scale, and there is actually Chen Zuyi behind them!
Zhu Yunwen does not plan to continue to issue reward orders. Since Chen Zuyi is so rampant, it is appropriate for him to be buried in the sea.
"Your Majesty, the naval fleet led by Zheng He only has 20 warships and only 2,000 combatants. It will be dangerous to go south rashly. Please order Zheng He to retreat immediately!"
Xu Huizu requested with a serious face.
Zhu Yunwen frowned. The fleet and personnel led by Zheng He were a bit weak. He glanced at the report on the table and asked: "Why didn't Zheng He mention Chen Zuyi in the report? Did he know or not know about Chen Zuyi?" "
Xu Huizu hesitated and said: "We are not sure yet, but from Zheng He's report and direction, we can see that he has been chasing the Japanese bandits, and he also knows that there are people behind the scenes who are manipulating these Japanese bandits. I am worried, This will be a trap..."
"Chen Zuyi dares to set a trap for the Ming Navy?"
Zhu Yunwen asked sharply.
Xu Huizu looked at Zhu Yunwen bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, Chen Zuyi is a pirate. In the past few years, many overseas countries came to pay tribute, but now only Annan, Champa, Siam and Ryukyu are left to pay tribute. In terms of last year, Only Siam and Champa paid tribute. It’s not that these overseas countries don’t want to come, but that the sea routes are blocked.”
"It is not once or twice that Chen Zuyi led his men to block the sea channel and intercept and rob tribute ships from various countries. Such a bold man may not have the courage to lay a trap for our navy. Your Majesty, you must be on guard."
Zhu Yun narrowed his eyes and asked, "Where is Zheng He now?"
Xu Huizu shook his head and said: "There is no accurate information yet. If there are no delays on the way, it should be in the waters of Fujian at this time, and it will enter the waters of Guangzhou in less than two days."
Zhu Yunwen stood up, found the map, looked at it carefully, and said: "The fleet is too far away from the capital. Even if it is sent, it will be too late. In my opinion, Zheng He will not directly enter Nanyang and launch an attack on Chen Zuyi."
Xu Huizu sighed: "Your Majesty, this may not happen in ordinary times. What if the bait of Japanese bandits has always been there, and if someone deliberately lures the Ming Navy to a certain place?"
Being led by bait can easily lead to loss of reason and judgment.
Zhu Yunwen pondered for a while, and after a while, he smiled slightly and said to the uneasy Xu Huizu: "Xu Aiqing, you don't know Zheng He yet. He is not an impulsive general, not to mention Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng are not ordinary people. Chen Zuyi Even if we set a trap, we can't trap the big fish Zheng He."
Xu Huizu didn't know where Zhu Yunwen's confidence came from.
Xu Huizu investigated Zheng He. Before this, except for accompanying Zhu Di on an expedition as a personal guard, he had never led troops and had no experience in long voyages.
This is an unremarkable person.
But the emperor seemed to have full confidence in him.
Zhu Yunwen stared at the waters of Guangzhou and asked, "Where is Mr. Cao Guo?"
"Back to the Emperor, he should still be at the Yangjiang Shipyard."
Xu Huizu replied respectfully.
"Yangjiang?"
Zhu Yunwen groped with his fingers along the location of Guangzhou, and finally clicked on the location of Yangjiang and said, "This is a good location."
