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

The three continued to move forward. The sun set and night fell. The mountains and forests were full of unknown dangers, and the roars of various wild beasts could be heard one after another.

Finally, after a long journey, they arrived at the territory of the monitor lizard tribe.

A suffocating feeling of oppression came over me. The towering wooden fences were hung with skulls of various animals, emitting a disgusting smell.

Several burly warriors of the Giant Lizard Tribe, holding spears, stared at them with cold eyes.

"Stop! Who are you?"

A warrior asked in a low voice, with strange totems painted on his face, which made people shudder.

"We are... We are from the Blackrock Tribe." Ashan replied in a trembling voice, "We... We were attacked..."

"Attack?" A trace of contempt flashed in the soldier's eyes. "You weak guys, will someone attack you?"

"it is true!"

Amu couldn't help but shout loudly, "Those people...those people came from the sea, they...they killed many of us and stole our food and livestock!"

"maritime?"

The soldier's expression changed slightly. He turned his head to look at a wooden house behind him and whispered:

"I will report to the clan leader."

A moment later, a tall and mighty figure walked out of the wooden house.

He is muscular and has a hideous scar on his face, which makes him look even more ferocious. He is the chief of the monitor lizard tribe - Aruba.

Aruba's sharp eyes swept across the three people, finally landing on Ashan, and asked in a deep voice:

"You said you were attacked by people from the sea?"

"Yes, patriarch."

Ashan knelt on the ground and narrated the whole incident in detail.

"The devil from the sea..."

Aruba's thick fingers rubbed the hideous scar on his chin vigorously.

It was the mark left when he fought with a giant python when he was young, and it also symbolized his bravery and strength as the patriarch.

"How many people are there? What weapons do they have? Why do they want to steal your food and livestock?"

Aruba bombarded him with a series of questions, with a barely perceptible hint of anxiety in his tone.

Ah Shan's body trembled even more violently, and he answered incoherently:

“Reply…Reply to the Patriarch. Those demons are riding on huge wooden boats. There are so many of them that we…we cannot estimate them at all. They…they use weapons that can breathe fire. We…we have never seen them before…”

"A weapon that breathes fire?"

Aruba and the other elders exchanged looks of astonishment; they had never heard of such a terrible weapon.

"Yes, Chief, the flames spewed out by those weapons can burn a person to ashes in an instant..." Ashan's voice became lower and lower, as if he had returned to that terrifying night.

"These damned robbers!"

An elder slammed the table and roared:
“Why do they invade our homes and steal our things?”

"We should unite with other tribes and fight these demons to the death!" another elder echoed indignantly.

"calm down!"

A gray-haired old man stood up tremblingly. He was leaning on a cane, but his cloudy eyes were shining with wisdom.

"We know nothing about these visitors from the sea. If we start a war rashly, it will only lead to greater disaster."

"So what you mean is that we just let them do whatever they want?"

"Of course not." The old man's voice was weak but full of strength. "We must first find out their background and then make plans."

Aruba nodded in agreement.

He looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice:

"I have decided to send an elite reconnaissance team to the coastline to gather information. Remember, you must be careful and not be discovered by the enemy."

"Yes!" Several young and strong soldiers stood up and took the order and left.

……

Wang Dahu stood on a hillside, squinting his eyes and looking into the distance.

"Sir, the territory of the giant lizard tribe is ahead."

A soldier said, pointing to the tall wooden fence in the distance.

"Monster Lizard Tribe..." Wang Dahu muttered to himself, with a gleam in his eyes.

"Sir, should we ..."

The soldier made a gesture of wiping his neck with a cruel smile on his face.

"No hurry," Wang Dahu waved his hand, "The prince has instructed us to avoid conflicts with the natives as much as possible."

"But sir, those natives are barbaric and ignorant, and they are not worthy of..."

"Shut up!" Wang Dahu shouted, "You dare to question the prince's order?"

The soldier was so frightened that he trembled and quickly bowed his head to admit his mistake.

Wang Dahu withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward.

After walking for a while, he suddenly stopped and his eyes fell on an exposed rock.

"what is this?"

Wang Dahu squatted down and carefully observed the marks on the rock.

"Sir, this... this looks like gold ore!"

A soldier exclaimed.

Wang Dahu's heart moved. Could this be the gold mine that the prince had been looking for?

He stood up and looked around. He saw that the place was full of rolling mountains, lush vegetation, and crisscrossing rivers. It was indeed a place with good feng shui.

"Pass the order down and set up camp!"

Wang Dahu's eyes flashed with excitement, "Also, send someone to survey the surrounding terrain to see if there are any other discoveries."

"Yes!"

The soldiers took the order and left, each of their faces filled with excitement and excitement.

……

The mountains are undulating and the jungle is dense. Several warriors of the giant lizard tribe are crouching and moving through the dense bushes.

Their bodies were painted with colorful oil paints and sharp bone knives were inserted into their waists.

Holding rough wooden spears in their hands, they approached the target silently like a group of nimble cheetahs.

"Aru, look!" A young warrior lowered his voice and pointed to an open space not far ahead, saying, "Those monsters are right there!"

Aru is the captain of this reconnaissance team. He is experienced, calm and one of the most trusted warriors of the Aruba chieftain.

He carefully pushed aside the branches in front of him and looked in the direction the young warrior was pointing.

——On an open coastline, dozens of huge wooden boats were anchored on the sea, like huge monsters, blocking out the sky and the sun.

There were strange patterns embroidered on the sails, which rustled in the sea breeze.

On the shore, a group of people in strange clothes were busy. Some of them were setting up tents, some were carrying goods, and some were patrolling back and forth with weapons flashing coldly. They were orderly and disciplined.

"These sea demons are indeed as Ah Shan described, numerous and well-equipped."

Alu thought to himself, "It seems that they came prepared this time, and they are definitely not good people."

"What should we do now? Should we go back and report to the clan leader?" the young warrior asked anxiously.

"No hurry, let's observe for a while." Alu said calmly, "The tribe leader has instructed us to find out their details before making any plans."

So, several soldiers continued to lurk in the dark, observing the every move of these visitors from the sea.

They found that these visitors from the sea seemed to be very interested in this land. They kept surveying the terrain and measuring distances, and some of them were recording something with strange tools.

"What are they doing? Are they trying to take over our home?"

The young warrior clenched the wooden spear in his hand, with flames of anger burning in his eyes.

Alu did not speak, his brows were furrowed, and his heart was full of doubts. He realized that this group of sea visitors were different from the enemies he had encountered before.

They did not seem to come for food and treasure; their purpose was more complicated and more elusive.

"Let's go back." Aru finally made a decision, "Tell the tribe leader about the situation here and let him make the decision."

Inside the meeting hall of the Giant Lizard Tribe, the atmosphere was solemn and depressing.

The elders sat around the campfire, worry and anxiety written all over their faces.

"Chief, those demons on the sea, they... they seem to be planning to stay here for a long time!"

Aru knelt on one knee and reported the reconnaissance situation to the chief of Aruba.

"what?!"

"These damn bandits, what do they want to do?!"

"We must not let them succeed!"

The elders were outraged and clamored to drive out the invaders.

"Shut up, everyone!"

The Aruba chief roared, and the deafening sound silenced the entire meeting hall.

He drummed hard on the table with his thick fingers.

It made a dull sound, like an angry lion, ready to bite anyone at any time.

"What are you guys arguing about?! Do you want to scare our guests?"

An old voice sounded slowly.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a white-haired old man leaning on a cane, standing up tremblingly.

He was once the patriarch.

That is the current old patriarch.

"Old Patriarch, why are you here?"

The Aruba chief quickly stood up and helped the old man to his seat.

"If I don't come, you'll be in big trouble!"

The old man glared at everyone, his cloudy eyes sparkling with wisdom.

"You know nothing about these visitors from the sea. If you rashly start a war, it will only lead to greater disaster!"

"But are we just going to let them occupy our homes?"

An elder retorted unconvinced.

"of course not."

The old man said, "We must first find out their background and then make plans."

"The old patriarch is right."

Another elder also echoed, "Only by knowing ourselves and the enemy can we fight a hundred battles without danger. We cannot act rashly."

The Aruba chief pondered for a moment, finally nodded and said:

"I decided to send someone to contact those visitors from the sea and test their intentions."

"Chief, let me go!" Alu stepped forward and volunteered, "I will be careful and not let them discover our intentions."

The Aruba chief pondered for a moment and finally accepted Aru's request.

He said in a rough voice:
"Alu, you are brave and smart, so I'll leave it to you this time. Remember, you must find out where these guys came from and their purpose, and don't make any trouble!"

"Yes, patriarch!"

Aru excitedly took the order, called two strong tribesmen, took some tribal specialties, and walked towards the beach.

Along the way, Aru held the wooden spear tightly in his hand, and scanned the surrounding jungle like an eagle to prevent the visitors from the sea from setting an ambush.

When they arrived at the seaside, they hid behind a dense bush and secretly observed the camp of the visitors from the sea.

"Aru, what should we do now?" a tribesman asked, "Should we charge forward and teach them a lesson?"

"Are you crazy?!" Aru shouted in a low voice, "The clan leader said that we must first find out their background and not act rashly!"

"But, they..."

"Stop talking, let's go back first." Aru interrupted him, "Tell the tribe leader about the situation here and see what he says."

Just as they were preparing to retreat, they suddenly heard a commotion coming from the camp.

Aru quickly signaled his tribesmen to hide, and he stuck his head out and looked into the camp.

I saw Wang Dahu arranging the work of the Ming army in an orderly manner.

Aru knew at a glance that he was the leader of these visitors from the sea.

"Is he their leader?"

Alu thought to himself, "Looking at his appearance, he seems difficult to deal with."

At this moment, he heard a member of the tribe nearby take a breath of cold air, pointing at the middle-aged man and saying in a trembling voice:

"Ah...Alu, look, what is he...what is he holding in his hand?!"

Aru looked in the direction where his finger pointed and was immediately shocked.

I saw that Wang Dahu was holding a bloody human head in his hand!
"Sir, we have captured some natives."

"killed."

Wang Dahu walked in front with big strides, without even looking at Alu and others who were tied up and pushed over.

"Yes!"

"Wait." Wang Dahu suddenly remembered the purpose of this trip and asked, "Will they speak our language?"

"My Lord, it shouldn't be."

Wang Dahu hesitated for a moment and said, "Bring it here, let me take a look."

Aru and the other two were roughly pushed in front of Wang Dahu. All three of them glared at him, but could not hide the fear in their eyes.

Wang Dahu looked at the three natives with interest.

Looking at their strange clothes and their exposed skin painted with strange oil paints, it was like looking at some rare animals.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

Wang Dahu asked in the official language of the Ming Dynasty.

Alu and the other two naturally didn't understand what Wang Dahu said. One of them stiffened his neck and said loudly in an extremely stiff and awkward tone:

"I am from the Giant Lizard Tribe, and you, get out!"

Upon hearing this, a burly soldier next to Wang Dahu became furious.

He drew his sword and was ready to kill these ignorant natives.

"stop!"

Wang Dahu stopped the soldiers and looked at the three natives in front of him.

But they fear power but not virtue. Killing such people will not make them surrender, but will instead arouse their resistance.

"The prince once said that when employing people, the best way is to win their hearts."

Wang Dahu said calmly:
"Do you know your guilt?"

Aru and the other two looked at each other, not understanding what Wang Dahu was talking about at all.

"Sir, why bother talking to these barbarians? Just chop off their heads and use them as a sacrifice!"

The soldier said impatiently.

In his eyes, these natives were nothing more than ants, not worth wasting words on.

Wang Dahu waved his hand, signaling the soldiers to retreat, then pointed at the native who had just spoken and asked:

"What's your name?" (End of this chapter)