I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 396: Destroying the Mo Clan
The banquet reached its climax when Lu Yong, the eunuch in charge of the Shaofujian and the southeast, arrived.

Although Leon and Manuela did not know how high Lu Yong's official position was or what real power he held, they knew he must be an important figure because he was dressed very gorgeously and the guests sitting with him were very respectful to him.

After the interpreter explained, they found out that he was the successor of the famous Southeast God of Wealth, Eunuch Yang. Leon and Manuela saluted him enthusiastically to express their highest respect.

"You Western barbarians, why don't you just do business and make money together? You force buying and selling, and want to eat alone. No one in this world has ever dared to make trouble in front of our Crown Prince. You all saw the fate of the Spaniards."

After hearing what Lu Yong said as translated by the interpreter, Leon and Manuela were stunned.

Even if we were brave enough, we would not dare to force a sale on the Ming Dynasty. You have so many large sailing ships and so many cannons, we don’t have that much courage.

At most, we would show off our muscles to the African black chieftains, Indian and Malay princes and buy the most valuable goods at the "lowest cost".

The interpreter whispered to the two men, "Maybe this Eunuch Lu confused you with the Spaniards."

Leon quickly explained.

Lu Yong chuckled, "Listen to the names of your two countries, one is Portugal and the other is Spain, it sounds like you are brothers. I heard that you both have a godfather named Pope Paul as your godfather, so that's right, you are sworn brothers with different fathers and mothers."

Leon wanted to explain, but when he saw the cunning light in Lu Yong's eyes, he immediately understood that this eunuch Lu was just taking the opportunity to hit him.

Spain tried to force purchases and sales and wanted to monopolize the Ming market, but was eventually defeated.

You Portuguese people all come from the same place, so be careful and don't learn bad things.

Hehe, we Portuguese people are the most honest and simple!

After a few rounds of drinking, Leon and Manuela were overwhelmed by the rich and colorful drinking culture of the Ming Dynasty. They really couldn't understand why these Ming people would come up with such an excuse to toast them.

Starting from God to all their relatives, a toast was given to them all in their names, and the result was that the two of them had red faces, talked nonsense, and staggered.

Lu Yong had a good alcohol tolerance, so he started drinking with the others, and the atmosphere in the private room remained lively.

Li Chao and Li Sanjiang quietly walked to the other side.

The two were old acquaintances. In the 37th year of Jiajing, Li Chao served as a captain under Tan Lun, and Li Sanjiang worked on Tan Lun's staff.

"Brother Tianqu, according to the report, your Suzaku navy is having a great time fighting."

"Haha, it's all because of the soldiers who risked their lives."

"This time, going north to accept the imperial court's review and being summoned by the crown prince, Brother Tianqu will surely rise to prominence and have a bright future."

It was a military secret that Li Chao formed the Qinglong Navy to attack the Spaniards' lair in the New World along the Spaniards' eastward return route.

He smiled and replied, "The brothers of the Navy and Army Divisions in the South China Sea are still fighting vigorously, but they are pulling us north to accept the review. To be honest, the brothers are not very willing."

Li Sanjiang laughed: "It's just that there is no opponent for you in the South China Sea right now. The Annan Mo family has three battalions of the South China Sea Navy, which is enough to deal with them. The Portuguese, haha. Brother Tianqu, what do you think they want to discuss this time when they come north?"

"I talked to the Portuguese leaders a few times along the way, and I heard that they originally wanted to expand the leased area of ​​​​Haojing. But when they saw my amphibious divisions rushing down to the South China Sea and annihilating the Spanish fleet in one fell swoop, they dared not talk about anything and just wanted to keep what they had."

"Wishful thinking!" Li Sanjiang said with a sneer.

"That's right. How can we allow others to sleep beside our bed? The South China Sea is our Daming Lake, how can we let the Portuguese get their hands on it? Not only will we have to give up the Portuguese trenches, but we will also have to give up Malacca, the throat of the South China Sea."

Li Sanjiang smiled and said, "The Portuguese will definitely not agree."

"Whether he wants to or not is not up to him. The Annan Mo clan has been harassed by the Right Camp Navy and the Land Warfare Camp for four or five months. They have suffered heavy casualties and are at the end of their rope. They are about to collapse. After dealing with the Mo clan, the main forces of the Nanhai Xuanwei Navy and Land Warfare Division can march south.

Then we can ask the Portuguese whether they are willing or not."

The two laughed.

Li Chao saw Lü Yong chatting and laughing in the crowd, and couldn't help asking, "Brother Li, how about this eunuch Lü?"

"He is not as talented as Eunuch Yang, but he is a man of heart. He follows the rules set by Eunuch Yang. He follows them completely. If there is anything, he will consult with everyone. If there is anything that is undecided, he will report it to the capital and ask Your Highness to make the decision."

“How’s the reputation?”

"His reputation is pretty good. He is definitely not as diligent and frugal as Eunuch Yang. He never refuses small favors from merchants or invitations to banquets from time to time.

But he never took bribes, committed crimes, and everyone was satisfied." The two smiled at each other.

Lu Yong was a smart man.

I don't know how many spies His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has deployed in the southeast, and I don't know how many spies Eunuch Yang has left here. If there is any slight disturbance, the capital will definitely know it clearly.

Even if he wanted to be greedy and do bad things, he didn't have the courage to do so.

"The southeast is an important place for the imperial court's revenue. If it prospers here, the Ming Dynasty will continue to prosper."

After saying that, Li Chao pushed open the window.

It was already late in the evening, and the night was bright and starry.

Looking out from the window, the whole city of Shanghai seems like a city that never sleeps. The lights of thousands of homes form a brilliant and prosperous picture, shining in harmony with the stars in the sky.

Li Chao was fascinated by the sight and could not help but sigh: "This is the Shanghai City of my Ming Dynasty. Brother Li, it has become what it is today in your hands."

Li Sanjiang held onto the window railing, looked at the night view outside, and said with pride: "This is not just the credit of me, Li."

Li Chao patted him on the shoulder, pointed outside and said, "Brother Li, do you know that when we go out to sea, we look up at the night sky and the stars in the sky, and we think of the lights in our hometown, which are out of reach, but close to our hearts and warm.

Looking at the lights of thousands of houses, each lamp represents a family's hope. The desperate battles of our marines and soldiers to suppress the Japanese in the southeast were worth it; the bloody battles in the South China Sea were worth it! "

Li Sanjiang looked at the dazzling starry sky and lantern city outside. For a moment, he couldn't tell which was the sky and which was the ground. He couldn't help but stare at it in a daze and murmured, "Yes, it's worth it!"

In the front hall of the Nanhai Xuanwei Mission in Xiangjiang City and the Governor-General's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi, the generals of the navy and army camps, the center and right camps, gathered.

Lu Tong, Chen Lin, Zhang Yuanxun, Wu Weizhong and Yang Wen. There were about thirty or forty people standing there, and everyone was talking in low voices.

"Hu Shuai is here!"

Following a loud shout from his personal soldiers, Hu Zongxian, wearing a black gauze hat and a red official uniform, walked out from the back hall with a very serious expression.

"I pay my respects to Commander Hu of Xiantai!"

"No gift!"

Hu Zongxian answered loudly.

He glanced at the crowd and continued in a loud voice, "Last month, I presented the Annan Mo clan's letter of surrender to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Now I am rushing to deliver His Royal Highness's reply to it over 800 miles."

The front hall was very quiet and everyone listened in awe.

Hu Zongxian pulled out a petition from his sleeve, unfolded it and read: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's reply is as follows: His Royal Highness asks, is Annan Mo still alive?"

He held up the memorial and asked loudly, "My Lords, how should I answer your Highness's questions?
Lu Tong, Chen Lin, Zhang Yuanxun, Wu Weizhong, Yang Wen and others looked at each other, and finally Chen Lin said, "General, please report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince again in three months. The Annan Mo family is gone. It has been destroyed by us!"

Hu Zongxian glanced at everyone and asked, "Do you have confidence?"

Everyone responded in unison: "In March, we will definitely destroy the Annan Mo family. Then, please ask General Hu to report the victory to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Hu Zongxian said happily: "Okay! I will wait for your victory report in three months! This will be the first victory report of destroying a country since the second ancestor of the Ming Dynasty!"

His hopeful eyes swept across the excited faces of the crowd, and he said, "Now Pan Yinglong will read out the military strategy to destroy Mo."

The next morning, just after daybreak, Chen Lin boarded the flagship in the harbor and gathered all his generals on the deck.

"Yesterday we received an order from the Crown Prince! Asking the officers and soldiers of the South China Sea and Land Forces, is the Annan Mo clan still around? Brothers from the Right Camp, how should we answer?"

After a dozen seconds of silence, dozens of people on the deck shouted in unison: "Please report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, we swear to destroy the Annan Mo family!"

Chen Lin waved his arms and shouted, "Good! We have already signed a military order to destroy the Annan Mo family in March. Now we will immediately set sail and return to our team, and together with the brothers in the Marine Battalion, we will destroy the Annan Mo family!"

Soon, a huge shout rang out from the sea: "Destroy the Mo family!"

Sails were quickly raised amid huge cheers, and under the control of the sailors, the side wind was used to push the Wusong ships out of the Hong Kong Port and slowly sail southward.

(End of this chapter)