King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

Five steel behemoths slowly approached the shore with whimpering roars, creating waves.

Zhu Di stood on the dock, looking at the towering warships parked in front of him. While feeling emotional, he also felt a bit of fear.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and fixed his gaze on Zhu Tan who was getting off the boat. He already knew why the old man looked at Lao Shi differently.

Zhu Di knew that he could not build a warship of this scale, a weapon of mass destruction that was superior to all living things, and it was impossible for him to have such a brilliant idea.

But Old Ten had it, and he actually made it.

If he were the old man, he would definitely be very caring towards the tenth brother.

God knows what else is in this kid's head that is beyond imagination.

Zhu Tan slowly got off the boat, and before he could even stand still, he saluted Zhu Di in the distance, saying with a smile, "Fourth brother, sorry for the long wait!"

Zhu Di raised the corner of his mouth slightly, suppressed all the thoughts in his heart, walked forward slowly, patted Zhu Tan on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "It didn't take long."

As he spoke, he looked at the giant steel beast beside him and said with emotion: "I heard that you built an ironclad ship before. I thought it was just an ordinary ship. I didn't expect it to be such a giant."

Hearing this, Zhu Tan squinted his eyes and chuckled, saying, "We will dispatch five ships this time to sweep away the Japanese pirates along the coast."

"Fourth brother, let's stop talking here. How about going up and taking a look?"

Zhu Di's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he nodded and said, "Okay!"

Boarding the warship, Zhu Di stood at the bow and looked at the boundless ocean in the distance. The strong sea breeze rustled his clothes and blew his thoughts into the sky.

He now understood that what Zhu Tan had said to him before was true.

With such a steel behemoth, the war in Japan is really just a small fight.

Driving such a powerful weapon, where in the world can't you go? Where can't you get what you want? There's really nothing to argue about for the merits of a small country like Japan.

"Fourth brother."

Zhu Tan stood beside Zhu Di, patted his palm on the surveillance railing, and said with a smile: "This time, my younger brother plans to hand over the two warships to the fourth brother to command and be responsible for clearing the Japanese pirates from northern Zhili to the Shandong coast and southern Liaoning."

"Each warship is equipped with 300 sailors, 170 gunners, and all kinds of cannons and muskets."

"Once the warships arrive, they will be devastating."

Zhu Tan's words, along with the sea breeze, entered Zhu Di's ears. He smiled softly, turned his head to look at Zhu Tan, and asked, "Will all the northern Zhili belong to me?"

"Ah."

Zhu Tan also smiled and said, "From Nanzhili to Guangdong and Guangxi, my brother plans to come by himself."

"After all, I have already told my father that if I don't make some achievements first, I won't be able to shut up those civil servants."

"The land south of Zhejiang belongs to you."

Zhu Di did not follow Zhu Tan's words, but changed the subject and said: "Zhili goes north, I will come."

"Fourth brother..."

Zhu Tan's face was trembling, and he said with some embarrassment: "But I have already told my father about this, you..."

"I'll explain it to father then." Zhu Di stretched out his hand, smiled and patted Zhu Tan's shoulder. His strength was so strong that Zhu Tan's body trembled.

"Fourth brother is almost suffocating in Peking. I still feel this small place is not enough."

"Fourth brother..."

"Tenth brother, if you continue, you will be disrespecting Fourth brother."

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Tan. Although there was a smile on his face, the threat in his eyes was real.

Zhu Tan believed that if he continued to argue about this matter, the fourth brother would definitely kick him a few times and use the skilled methods he had learned since childhood to get what he wanted.

Zhu Tan's mouth twitched, and he said helplessly: "Well, okay!"

"But fourth brother, the Japanese pirates are cunning. I have received intelligence that these bandits are in contact with the people of the Ming Dynasty. The situation is quite complicated. How about you..."

"Do you know where the pirates are gathering?"

Zhu Di didn't seem to care about these things at all, and asked directly: "How many places are there near Zhili?"

"They dare not gather near Zhili. They have bases in the Shandong and Zhejiang offshore islands. The local people..."

"You don't need to tell me, I know all this."

Zhu Di laughed and said, "In the coastal areas, no matter if they are common people or gentry, merchants or bureaucrats, as long as they have any connection with the Japanese pirates, they will be killed directly. What is there to say about this?"

"Fourth brother, I'm afraid this is a trap!"

"What trap?" Zhu Di heard this and grinned even more brightly, saying, "With a great man like you, the Prince of Lu, as my backup, what trap should I be afraid of?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Tan's heart tightened.

The fourth brother is not given for nothing. He must have analyzed the pros and cons long ago.

He gets a share of the profits if there is any merit, and naturally, King Lu will bear the consequences if there is any thunder, so he will not lose out no matter how you calculate it.

Zhu Tan originally wanted Zhu Di to take the blame, but now it seems that this will never happen.

"When will we set out?"

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Tan, ignoring the bitter smile on his face, and said directly: "My men have long been impatient to wait."

"Let's train for a few days first." Zhu Tan said, "The sea is rough and windy. Soldiers who have never sailed before may not be able to bear it."

"There are also logistics and other supplies that need to be moved slowly."

"Then three days." Zhu Di looked at the distant sky and said softly, "In three days, we will set out to fight."

Zhu Tan didn't know why. He was the main general in this expedition against the Japanese pirates, but he began to listen to the fourth brother unconsciously.

At night, Zhu Tan analyzed the situation alone and felt that it might be the childhood memories that played a role.

The days when his previous incarnation was dominated by his fourth brother had left a deep mark in his heart, and even if his soul came back, it would not be able to be erased immediately.

But this was not a big deal. He had originally planned to divide the troops, with him and Zhu Di each leading a route. This was both a favor to Zhu Di and a way to share the risk.

In the next three days, Zhu Di boarded the ship with the troops of the Beiping Military Region, set sail and adapted to the wind and waves near the coast.

The result was obvious. The average operating rate of Zhu Di's soldiers reached 65%, and many of them vomited to death, feeling that their life was worse than death.

Zhu Di tried to hold it back, but judging from his expression, Zhu Tan could tell that he was also feeling very uncomfortable.

It is not easy to go on an expedition across the sea. The originally arrogant momentum of Zhu Di and his soldiers was suppressed a lot, which is also a good thing.

An arrogant soldier will be defeated.

Although the ironclad warships make them invincible, if they underestimate the Japanese pirates and fail to annihilate them in an organized manner, then this expedition will be meaningless.

The night before going to war, Zhu Di and Zhu Tan sat in the room, drinking and chatting.

After three days of bumpy ride, Zhu Di seemed to have adapted to the situation and his complexion looked much healthier than before.

At this moment, he was leaning on the soft chair and looking at Zhu Tan, and asked softly: "Old Ten, the expedition is imminent, you should give me the detailed information, right?"

"The information we have now is still somewhat one-sided."

Zhu Tan took a sip of wine, took out the letter he had prepared long ago, handed it to Zhu Di beside him, and said, "This is what Duke Xin has found out in the past few days."

Zhu Di opened the letter, looked at it for a few seconds, and frowned slightly.

"So scattered?"

"The Japanese pirates are a motley crowd, each acting on their own." Zhu Tan explained softly, "If they could directly seize the supplies, I'm afraid they wouldn't build any bases on the island. After taking advantage of the situation, they would probably just flee back to Japan."

"They are now harassing the coast, stealing gold and silver, and trying to turn them into other things in our Ming Dynasty."

"The best rice, silk, cotton, and all kinds of porcelain and ironware are what they really want."

"After all, their place is extremely poor. Even if they have gold and silver, they can't buy these things."

Zhu Di finished reading the letter in his hand, put it on the table, looked at Zhu Tan again, and asked in a deep voice: "You said before that someone in the imperial court was colluding with them. Is that what they did?"

Zhu Tan nodded and said bluntly: "The Japanese pirates have become a large-scale business. They are responsible for robbing, and then find merchants in the imperial court to sell the stolen goods, and then exchange them for what they want and ship them back to Japan."

"Our Ming Dynasty's coastal defense forces are not vegetarians. If it weren't for the benefits, why would they dare to take the risk when my father has repeatedly issued orders to Japan in recent years and is furious?"

Zhu Di had also thought about the issue of Japanese pirates for a long time, and what Zhu Tan said was very similar to his analysis.

Overseas Japanese pirates are different from the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Northern Yuan Dynasty repeatedly invaded the border and entered the Great Wall to extort money, but their purpose was to rob people and food, and also to weaken the Ming Dynasty.

They entered the territory of the Ming Dynasty seasonally. The reason why it was called "autumn wind" was mainly because during the autumn harvest, the population was relatively concentrated and there were more things to steal.

These Japanese pirates attacked the seaside regardless of the season. They came from time to time, which was very annoying.

Their goal is to establish long-term channels and obtain continuous benefits from the Ming Dynasty, just like blood-sucking mosquitoes lying on the body, as long as they are not swatted to death, they will keep coming.

This action may seem like harassment and will have little impact on the Ming Dynasty, but because they have their accomplices within the court, this matter will only get bigger and bigger if left unchecked.

Once those Japanese pirates have fattened themselves up, they will probably not harass us but attack us directly.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di narrowed his eyes, with a gleam of brilliance in his eyes, but he did not continue the topic. Instead, he changed the subject and asked again.

"When will Duke Xin's troops arrive?"

"We'll probably be there the day after tomorrow." Zhu Tan said truthfully, "Fourth brother can go on the expedition as normal tomorrow."

"The soldiers of Shandong Dusi have already been trained. They don't need to rest after arriving. They will directly board the ship and head to the Zhejiang coast."

"By the time you get here, I'm afraid the battle here will be over."

Zhu Di rolled his eyes at Zhu Tan and asked, "What are you planning?"

Zhu Tan grinned upon hearing this and said, "Nothing can be hidden from Fourth Brother. He does have other ideas."

"Say!"

"After Fourth Brother has cleared the Japanese pirates off the northern coast, the warships should not return but go straight to Tamra first."

"Tanra?"

Zhu Di frowned slightly, feeling that Zhu Tan was playing a big game of chess.

"Tamra is the only way for the Japanese pirates to enter the Ming Dynasty. If they want to escape, they will definitely pass through Tamra."

Zhu Tan picked up the wine pot, poured a glass of wine for Zhu Di, and said with a smile: "Brother, you want Fourth Brother to block them here so that they can catch them all in one fell swoop."

"Will your boy be so kind?"

Zhu Di took a sip of the wine glass and felt something was wrong. He said, "If we can wipe out all the Japanese pirates, the credit will be mine."

"The credit originally belongs to Fourth Brother."

Zhu Tan rubbed his hands and said, "Fourth brother, you also know that some people in the imperial court are colluding with the Japanese pirates."

"Moreover, the Japanese pirates have shown signs of uniting their forces recently, and have fought several battles with the coastal defense forces, which is very different from before."

"My brother thinks that someone in the court might be fanning the flames and setting a trap for me."

"I must get to the bottom of this matter."

"So you push me to the front to destroy the Japanese pirates, and you do other things?"

Zhu Di drank the wine in the cup and asked again: "What are you going to do?"

"It's a feint to the east and attack in the west." Zhu Tan said with a smile: "This matter still requires the cooperation of Fourth Brother. The credit for wiping out the Japanese pirates and all the spoils of war will be given to you as a favor."

"Will Fourth Brother not disagree?"

Zhu Tan had already said this, and Zhu Di didn't know what to say.

In his opinion, there must be some hidden story behind Zhu Tan's expedition to wipe out the Japanese pirates, and what he said now was probably what the old man meant.

"can."

After thinking for a while, Zhu Di nodded and asked, "Is the person you are looking for in Zhejiang or Guangdong and Guangxi?"

"If you need someone, just tell me."

After all, they are brothers. Even if Zhu Di has some concerns in his heart, he is still willing to cooperate with Zhu Tan.

This is not only his own consideration, but also out of brotherhood.

"Don't worry about me, Fourth Brother." Zhu Tan also took a sip of wine and whispered to Zhu Di, "Fourth Brother, this is the first time that you and I have fought side by side. I wish us a successful start."

"Oh, you little brat." Zhu Di also picked up his wine glass and clinked it with Zhu Tan's, then said with a hearty smile, "A victory!"

The next day, early in the morning.

Zhu Tan stood on the dock with a dozen personal guards, watching the two warships gradually moving away, his thoughts flying.

The closer we get to war, the stronger the sense of crisis in our hearts becomes.

Zhu Tan thought about it carefully for a few days and had a rough idea.

This should have nothing to do with the old man, but was done by the civil officials in the court.

They wanted to use some means to weaken his power, or at least leave a stain on him in the old man's heart, so as to prepare for digging a bigger hole in the future.

The struggle in the court may never subside, this is the current political situation.

Even if Zhu Tan behaved himself, these civil officials would probably find another target and bite him fiercely.

If not, how can they have a sense of existence?

Zhu Tan collected his thoughts and returned to the base.

That evening, Tang He led 40,000 troops from the Shandong Military Region and slowly arrived, stationing near Tianjin Port.

Tang He himself also went to meet Zhu Tan as soon as possible.

"Your Highness."

After not seeing each other for more than ten days, Tang He's complexion was obviously darker than before. It was probably because of the continuous training and Haifeng's flattery.

"Father-in-law, please sit down."

Zhu Tan helped Tang He sit down, and Tang He said directly: "The latest news has been delivered."

"The Zhejiang Coast Guard reported that the Japanese pirates there have shown signs of gathering. They have appeared on all the islands and reefs outside Zhoushan."

"Your Highness, the gathering of the Japanese pirates is no accident. They may have something big to do."

"Attack the government office?"

Zhu Tan thought about it for a moment, and then felt something was wrong, and then he said softly: "No matter what they want to do, pass the order and set sail tomorrow."

"Be the first to know, and then nothing they can do will work." (End of this chapter)