People in the Ming Dynasty are lawless

Chapter 736: Destroy the pirates! Fight the civil servants! The fun is endless!

The lanterns of Huitong Hall swayed in the night wind, casting the shadows of Zhu Biao and Chen Han on the blue brick floor, stretching them into long and distorted shapes. The hall was filled with a strong scent of ambergris, but it could not cover up the bloody smell wafting from the corners - the Javanese envoy was kneeling on the ground, his forehead against the cold floor tiles, and the hem of his official robe was stained with dried blood.

“Your Highness…” The messenger raised his head, his eyes sunken, his Adam’s apple rolled as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva, “Although Chen Zuyi is dead, the jackals under his command… have been shattered into pieces.”

It turned out that although Chen Zuyi was destroyed, there were still many groups of pirates who were scattered and roaming around in various countries. There were more than 4,000 pirates wreaking havoc in their country. They were unable to wipe them out, but many families used pirates to threaten the king.

Chen Han narrowed his eyes.

The hideous scar on the messenger's neck was still oozing blood, obviously left by his hasty escape.

Even more suspicious was the shark tooth necklace hanging around his waist - it was clearly a token commonly used by South China Sea pirates.

Zhu Biao tapped his fingertips on the table, startling a moth next to the lampshade. "Four thousand pirates?"

His voice was very soft, but it made the messenger tremble, "Where is the Javanese navy?"

“The navy…” The messenger tore open his shirt, revealing the burn marks on his chest. “Three warships were burned, and the commander’s head… was hung on a coconut tree in the royal city.”

He reached into his bosom with his skinny fingers and pulled out a bloody palm leaf. "This is the 'gift list' the pirates left for the king."

The moment the palm leaves unfolded, Chen Han's pupils shrank slightly - a distorted route map was drawn in blood between the leaf veins, marked with Javanese counting symbols. In the most eye-catching bay, the tide time and the number of arrows were densely recorded, and a hideous skull mark was painted next to it.

"Interesting." Chen Han suddenly chuckled, and his fingertips stroked the jagged marks on the leaf edge. "Among this group of pirates, there are people who understand hydrology."

The envoy raised his head abruptly upon hearing this, and a trace of panic flashed in his cloudy eyes. Zhu Biao keenly caught this detail, and suddenly leaned over to pinch the envoy's chin: "There are pirates in your delegation, right?"

Suddenly, there was a crisp sound of tiles breaking outside the museum.

The guard threw the dagger at his waist like lightning. A cold light flashed, and the black shadow outside the window fell to the ground.

Several guards rushed out and dragged in a Javanese follower who was tied up.

The man had a striking anchor chain tattoo on his right wrist, which was the mark of Chen Zuyi's former subordinates.

"It seems that the pirates are more anxious than us." Chen Han lifted the captive's chin with the tip of his boot, "Tell me, what does your boss want?"

The captive spat out a mouthful of blood foam, and suddenly grinned in stiff Chinese: "I want your... sea chart!"

The room was completely silent.

Zhu Biao and Chen Han exchanged glances.

The South China Sea pirates actually set their sights on the Ming Dynasty’s nautical charts?
The messenger suddenly fell to Zhu Biao's feet, and grasped the corner of the prince's robe with his fingers like dead branches: "Your Highness, please understand! The black gold wood produced in abundance in our country can make charcoal pencils that never fade... and the glaze made from volcanic ash can make porcelain..."

"boom!"

Chen Han kicked the prisoner who was trying to get up and put his mace against his throat: "Who told you that the sea chart is in the Heroine Workshop?"

The captive's pupils suddenly contracted. This subconscious reaction shocked Chen Han's heart - the pirates' intelligence network had penetrated to such an extent!

Zhu Biao suddenly slammed the table and stood up, shaking the teacups on the table and clinking: "Send a message to Nanyang!"

When the morning light penetrated the window paper, a huge map of the South China Sea had been spread out on the floor tiles of Huitong Hall.

Chen Han strung a few copper coins together with indigo-dyed cotton thread and formed an arrow formation in the Malacca Sea. "It's time to close General Lan's strategy of confusing the enemy with a new one."

He pointed at the atoll and said, "Let the pirates think we are going to attack the Old Port, but in fact..."

Zhu Youwei stood behind him without knowing when. The pattern of the silver hairpin in her hair shone coldly in the morning sun. "The new navigation instrument made by the Institute of Physics may be useful."

Suddenly, there was the sound of orderly footsteps outside the yard.

A large man in military uniform strode in, his armor still damp from the night dew, "Your Highness, the navy has deployed according to the caravan route given by Lord Xia."

He untied the leather bag at his waist and poured out a few peppercorns. "The 'pass' given by the Johor merchant said that the kitchen in the pirate's lair smells like this every day."

Chen Han picked up a peppercorn and sniffed it, sniffing it, sniffing, "Peppercorn mixed with sulfur? It looks like the pirates are stockpiling gunpowder. Fortunately, their ships weren't mixed with most merchant ships, or else there would be big problems."

He turned to the trembling messenger, "How much black gold wood is your king willing to give for peace?"

The messenger hurriedly picked out a wax-sealed palm board from the sole of his shoe, on which were crooked Chinese characters written in cinnabar: an annual contribution of one thousand dan of black gold wood, five hundred ships of volcanic ash, and three gold mines.

"Not enough." Zhu Biao drew out his sword, a cold light flashed, and the palm board was split in half. "Tell your king that the Ming navy's military expenses for suppressing bandits..."

The tip of the sword picked up the shark tooth necklace on the ground and said, "You have to pay with the pirate leader's teeth."

At noon, the bronze bell of Huitong Hall suddenly rang.

Zhu Youwei stood in the yard, watching Xiaotao and the female workers from the Women's Workshop load goods onto the carriage - not cloth, but hundreds of strange packages wrapped in "Quanqing cloth".

"Be careful!" Aunt Liu pushed away the officer who wanted to peek at the package. "Here is a special 'abacus fire bomb' made by the Institute of Physics. It will explode if it is shaken!"

Chen Han was demonstrating the use of fire bombs to the messenger when he was suddenly dragged to the corridor by Zhu Biao. The prince took out a half-burned wooden sign from his arms, on which remained the words "Xu Ji": "This morning, the Xu family warehouse caught fire, and all the goods from Southeast Asia were burned."

"Silencing?" Chen Han stroked the shark teeth marks on the edge of the wooden sign. "It seems that the pirates have more accomplices in Yingtian than we thought..."

Everyone turned around and saw thick smoke coming out of the port in the distance.

This was the agreed signal, the navy had successfully lured the pirates into an ambush.

The messenger's armor gleamed coldly in the sunlight: "Your Highness, it's time to deliver the message."

At midnight that night, the moonlight at Longjiang Wharf was obscured by thick smoke.

The pirate fleet was trapped on the edge of the sandbar, and countless torches suddenly lit up around them.

The Ming navy stood at the bow of the flagship, watching the panicked pirates running around like headless flies.

"Fire arrows!"

Specially made rockets streaked across the night sky, with spiral patterns engraved on the shafts making a shrill whistling sound during flight.

The sulfur gunpowder improved by the School of Physics exploded the moment it came into contact with the ship's planks, tearing a hole in the pirates' ship formation.

The most spectacular thing was the sinking of the flagship. The sulfur-mixed pepper piled at the stern was ignited, and the exploding fireball illuminated half the sky red.

Through the telescope, one could clearly see a pirate leader with nautical charts tattooed on him on the deck, frantically throwing account books filled with symbols into the sea.

"It's him." Chen Han sneered, "The interpreter who disappeared from the Ministry of Revenue back then."

At dawn, the Javanese envoy knelt on the deck and trembled as he held up a shark tooth.

That was the trophy pulled from the pirate leader's neck.

Zhu Biao took the shark tooth and threw it into the river.

This group of pirates was really bold. They actually followed the tribute fleet to the Ming Dynasty and wanted to take things back. It was ridiculous. On the way back, looking at the fragments of the sea chart floating on the river, Chen Han suddenly laughed out loud: "The pirates will never figure out why the dark patterns on every sea chart can guide us to find them."

This victory did not make Chen Han and Zhu Biao go to their heads, because there was still a tough battle to be fought at the court meeting the next day.

……

As soon as the gong sounds of the fifth watch died down, the white marble steps in front of the Fengtian Hall were already covered with the boot prints of court officials.

When Chen Han followed Zhu Biao up the stairs, he found that the hem of Zheng Qingzhuo's official robe was stained with night dew - this old scholar must have been waiting outside the palace gate before dawn.

"I have a report to make!" As expected, as soon as the court bell rang, Zheng Qingzhuo stepped out with his tablet in hand, "Xia Yuanji and Lan Yu are raising bandits in Southeast Asia, which is a move that will bring disaster to the country!"

His skinny fingers were shaking violently, and the memorial rustled in the morning light. Chen Han glanced at the word "pirate" on the memorial and saw it circled seven or eight times in red ink, the ink smudged like splashed blood.

Zhu Yuanzhang's dragon boots stepped on the gold bricks, stirring up a wisp of dust. "What do you think, Mr. Zheng, should we do with it?"

"Recall him and punish him!" Zheng Qingzhuo slammed his tablet heavily on the ground. "Our Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette. How can we learn from the Mongols and use force to intimidate others?"

An almost inaudible sneer came from the corner of the hall. Fang Xing, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, stepped out, twisting his beard and saying, "Sir Zheng, do you know that last month Javan pirates hijacked a Siamese tribute ship and killed more than 30 of our people?" He suddenly opened the sea map, and the fishy and salty sea breeze blew in his face. "The spy that General Lan deliberately let go just brought back the defense map of the Japanese pirates' lair three days ago!"

Chen Han saw the old emperor's pupils shrink slightly.

The shapes of the islands marked on the nautical chart were clearly Arabic numerals drawn with charcoal.

The most eye-catching "7"-shaped bay is densely packed with records of tide times and artillery ranges.

"Ridiculous!" Minister of Rites Qian Tang suddenly rushed in front of the sea chart, his official hat tilted, "This... this is clearly a foreign scribble!"

Zhu Biao chuckled and took out an indigo handkerchief from his sleeve.

The "π" symbol embroidered on the corner of the handkerchief shone with golden luster in the morning light, exactly the same as the numbers on the nautical chart.

"Master Qian, this is the newly translated Navigation Mathematics by the Institute of Physics." The prince stroked the lines on the handkerchief with his fingertips. "Without these numbers, the navy wouldn't even be able to calculate the tides accurately."

The old minister's face suddenly turned the color of liver.

Of course he remembered that when the Ministry of Revenue was checking the accounts last year, those widows who used the new numbers to keep accounts were three days faster than his students.

"Your Majesty!" Tongzhengshi Yang Zhan suddenly shouted, "If merchant ships are held back by pirates, the tax revenue of the Maritime Customs Office may be reduced by 30% this year!"

Before he finished speaking, hurried footsteps were suddenly heard outside the hall.

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites stumbled into the hall holding a gilded lacquer tube in his hand: "The letter of thanks from the Sultan of Malacca has arrived! He said that thanks to General Lan's efforts to suppress the bandits, the trade route has been opened!"

The moment the lacquer tube was opened, the rich smell of ambergris filled the hall.

Chen Han saw a bright red handprint on the petition. It was clearly a special ink made of cinnabar and coral powder, which was the hot-selling product exported by the Jinguo Workshop last month.

Zhu Yuanzhang's knuckles made a dull sound when tapping on the armrests of the dragon throne.

"Lan Yu reported that the purpose of keeping the pirates alive is to lure them out of their lair." He grabbed the arrowhead on the desk and nailed it to the sea chart. "This fine iron arrow was smuggled by the pirates from Java!"

The arrow pierced into the bay marked "3.14", and the tail feathers were still trembling.

Chen Han discovered that there were fine spiral patterns engraved on the arrow shaft, which was an improvement on the wind resistance calculated by the School of Physics using pi.

"I think..." Fu Youde's voice floated faintly from behind the palace pillar, "Pirates are like weeds. If you kill one, another will appear."

His dry branch-like fingers traced the sea map, "Why not let Xia Yuanji set up a market in Malacca to control the pirates through trade?"

Zheng Qingzhuo's tablet fell to the ground with a clang.

Of course he understood the significance of these words. Back then, the Mongols used the tea-horse trade to cut off the lifeline of Western Xia.

"No!" Xu Huizu's brother Xu Yingxu suddenly stepped out, "Xia Yuanji holds the Maritime Customs Office, Lan Yu is in charge of the navy, if they are given the power to run the market..."

The conversation stopped abruptly here, but everyone understood the hidden meaning.

Chen Han looked outside the hall.

The morning light shone through the window lattice, casting a fine grid on the floor tiles. He suddenly remembered that the warp and weft woven by the loom shuttles in the women's workshop last night were like this big net covering the South Seas.
"Chen Qing." Zhu Yuanzhang's voice brought him back to reality, "What do you think?"

Chen Han straightened his sleeves, and half a piece of indigo-dyed cloth slipped out of his sleeves—this was the new pattern Zhu Youwei had given him this morning. "Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to take a look at this."

The cloth was unfolded, revealing a coastal defense map woven with gold thread. Zheng Qingzhuo took a closer look and gasped: How could this be cloth? It was clearly a living map that could change with the light! The dark patterns showed the tide times, and the routes drawn by the gold thread were exactly the same as the nautical chart.

"The new weaving method of the Women's Workshop." Chen Han stroked the cloth gently, "One piece of cloth can hide half of the "Navy Drill Manual." He suddenly pointed out the window, "At this moment, at Yingtian Wharf, there are 20 merchant ships loading this cloth and sending it to the Southeast Asian countries."

The hall was in a dead silence. Everyone realized that these seemingly ordinary goods would become countless pairs of eyes in Nanyang.

"What a good way to use business to suppress thieves!" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed suddenly, shaking the dust off the beams. "Pass the order! Set up a Malacca market and appoint Xia Yuanji as the chief." As his dragon robe rolled up, a special copper coin rolled to Zheng Qingzhuo's feet with a "ding".

The old scholar bent down to pick it up, but found that the coin was not engraved with "Hongwu Tong Bao", but a striking "7" - it was exactly the number that Zhu Yuanzhang laughed at him for not being able to write well at the court meeting yesterday.

When dismissing the court, Chen Han ran into Fang Xing in the corridor.

The assistant minister of the Ministry of War was calculating something with a charcoal pencil on his palm. When he saw him coming, he hurriedly bowed and said, "My Lord, the guys in the Physics Institute have calculated that if the new arrowheads are made of Nanyang fine iron..."

Before he finished speaking, the sound of reading suddenly came from outside the palace wall. Chen Han stood on tiptoe and saw the women workers from the Women's Workshop marching through the Imperial Street in a line, each holding a copy of the "Navigation Mathematical Manual" in their hands.

The leader, Aunt Liu, with flying white hair, was reading aloud: "The value of pi is approximately twenty-two sevenths—"

Zheng Qingzhuo's sedan chair happened to pass by here, and the old scholar's hand that was about to lift the curtain froze in mid-air.

He saw his granddaughter wearing the workshop's uniform blue cloth shirt, standing in the queue and reciting in a clear and loud voice.

"The world has changed..." the old servant carrying the sedan chair muttered to himself.

The moment the curtain fell, a piece of straw paper floated in from the window and happened to cover Zheng Qingzhuo's trembling knees. On it was a crooked but neat route map, and the signature was a childish "7".

When Chen Han turned around, he saw Zhu Biao standing under the eaves of the Fengtian Hall.

The prince's gaze passed over the palace wall, as if he had seen the endless blue waves of the South China Sea.

There, Lan Yu's warships were patrolling, Xia Yuanji's merchant ships were traveling back and forth, and countless cloths woven with dark patterns were quietly changing the color of this sea area.

"Chen Han." Zhu Biao suddenly called him, "What do you think the Malacca market should use as a token of trust?"

Chen Han took out a glass dice from his arms. The sunlight penetrated the dice and cast a clear "π"-shaped spot on the palace wall.

"Use this," he said softly, "Let the foreign merchants remember that in the Ming Dynasty, even dice have to follow rules."

……

(End of this chapter)