Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

Paul's meaning was very clear. With your current status, are you qualified to meet the Governor of East India? With your current status, you can only meet the Governor of Taiwan!

Jiang Han shook his head. "It seems that your attitude is not very friendly. So, what explanation do you want me to give you?"

Paul immediately opened his mouth and said, "We demand that you compensate for the losses caused to the company because of your identity. At the same time, in order to ensure that such a thing will not happen and to maintain our normal trade, we need to send warships to escort us. During this period, all the expenses incurred by the warships will be borne by you. In order to avoid conflicts between the two sides, you need to open a port for our warships to dock and resupply..."

"Sh..." Jiang Han took a breath after listening to this. Good man, I have always known that these white people are shameless, but are they really that shameless? Are they taking me for a fool?

"Your Excellency's requests are so great that even if you find a donkey, it won't be granted. Can I think you are fooling me?"

"How could that be? You misunderstood. We are only making some reasonable requests based on normal trade exchanges."

"What will you do if I don't agree?"

"Our contract is still in place. Our partnership will not end until the contract ends. If you want to terminate the cooperation, you will need to pay us a breach of contract fee. If you refuse to pay, we will not rule out the possibility of using force."

Sure enough, they came. I knew that this was what these idiots were up to. I wondered why they were circling around for so long. They were waiting for me here. Why didn't you tell me earlier? If you had told me earlier that you wanted to fight, how could I not agree to it? I have hundreds of iron-blooded warriors waiting to be cooked!

Jiang Han nodded. "If you say so, then everything will be easy. Come on, show the guests away."

Jiang Han's actions made Paul feel confused? What did he mean? What? He was just sending the guest away? "Sir, what do you mean by this? Can I regard this as your refusal to compensate us?"

Jiang Han raised his middle finger at the other party and said, "I'll compensate you!" Interactions between people should be more aggressive.

"Wait a minute, I also need to tell you something." When the guards asked the two to leave, Jiang Han seemed to remember something and called them.

"Humph, don't you think it's a little late to regret now?"

"No, no, no, actually, I lost a few soldiers on Taiwan Island a few days ago, so to be on the safe side, I'm going to send people to search the island. I'm just letting you know about this, that's all."

You still want to hit me? Then I'll hit Ning first!

I was finally released from the gray book. I am really going to cry. I have lost a lot of subscriptions these days. I think my income is going to collapse. I can finally update it with peace of mind these two days. There is one more chapter tonight. I will update more from tomorrow.

Volume 379: Chapter Chapter : Li Zicheng Enters Henan

Just as large-scale uprisings began to break out in various parts of southern Henan under the leadership of the Volunteer Army, Li Zicheng also led his troops out of Luonan and came to Lu's County, Henan.

Since Li Zicheng came back to power, everything has been going so smoothly. The people have been exhausted by the corruption and severe oppression of the Ming court. They are eagerly hoping that no matter who it is, they will stand up and change everything. At this time, Li Zicheng returned like lightning and naturally won a lot of support from the people.

The rebel kings from various local tribes also came to surrender. Why did they surrender to him instead of Jiang Han? In fact, they had thought about it, but several rebel kings had their visiting cards rejected before they could even submit them. Some even came to surrender with others but were caught on the spot.

This person is not a decent person. It is more reliable to join the King of Rebellion. In fact, they don't even look at their own morals. Their biggest hobby every day is robbery. After robbing, they start drinking and having fun, bullying women, and even eating human flesh. Jiang Han will shoot this kind of person if he meets one. There will be absolutely no false cases.

"Military advisor, what do you think?" Li Zicheng looked at Niu Jinxing who was sitting next to him and stroking his beard. This man's name sounded androgynous.

"My intention is to enter Henan and expand the team. King Chuang is a wise man who can see through everything. Although our army is developing well, the foundation left by Sun Chuanting in Shaanxi is still there. It is not easy to capture Xi'an. Henan is in ruins and is a devastated area. The people here urgently need King Chuang's leadership to resist the tyranny of the Ming Dynasty. As long as King Chuang makes a call here, a large number of people will respond."

Li Zicheng nodded: "Yes, I think so too."

Li Zicheng actually had another idea, that is, he wanted to be in power. Now Li Zicheng's army seemed to have 20,000 to 30,000 people, which seemed like a lot, but more than half of them were people brought by these rebel kings themselves. These people were confident in their own affairs and just gathered around Li Zicheng's banner. They were very difficult to manage. For example, there were many soldiers coughing in the team, but he found it difficult to manage them.

The most taboo in marching and fighting is plague. This plague was too severe. Several places where the rebel army passed through had been wiped out. Li Zicheng had to take it seriously. He ordered the killing of all soldiers infected with the plague, or expelling them from the barracks and leaving them to fend for themselves. However, many soldiers in the army were from other parts of the rebel army. It would be difficult to kill them if you said you wanted to, and it would be difficult for you to do so if the other party caused trouble. Therefore, Li Zicheng had to go to Henan to recruit troops, so that he could rely on his own military advantage to grab all the other parts of the rebel army in his own hands. Look at Jiang Han in the south, he keeps his word and there is only one sun in the sky. Li Zicheng felt that he should do the same.

At this time, it was almost the end of the year. Li Zicheng finally led his troops to capture Yongning and set fire to the city in the middle of the night. There was chaos in Yongning City. The rebel army attacked the city for half a day and finally broke the city.

After conquering Yongning, Li Zicheng sent people to search for the gold, silver, treasures and food in Prince Wan'an's Palace. This move made the generals of the rebel army very happy, as there were simply too many supplies in Wan'an Palace!

Thousands of rebel soldiers pulled carts and moved no less than a hundred carts. The gold and silver on the carts blinded several people's eyes, and the white rice made the rebel soldiers crazy and screamed.

Li Zicheng smiled so hard that his mouth couldn't close. He said, "With these properties, the rebel army won't have to worry about the military expenses for the next few years!"

The generals of the Chuang army were also very excited. Military advisor Niu Jinxing suggested: "King Chuang, we can't monopolize these gold, silver and grain. We should issue a notice to provide relief to the hungry people and take the opportunity to recruit soldiers and continue to expand our strength!"

Li Zicheng nodded slightly. He had the same idea. We have to have a vision when we rebel. During the days in the mountains, Li Zicheng reflected on himself. He thought that his previous failure was because he followed this group of so-called volunteers, who were all a bunch of people who were greedy for enjoyment. These people robbed wherever they went, ate, drank, gambled, and ran away after they had spent all their money. They had no vision at all. How could he carry out an uprising with this group of insects?

Song Xian Ce, who was dressed in scholar's clothes, was unwilling to be left out, and also offered a suggestion: "I suggest that the King of Chuang establish a country in Luoyang and call on the righteous army in the world to fight against the Ming Dynasty together!"

Hearing this, the eyes of the generals of the Chuang army lit up and they became very interested. If King Chuang became emperor, their status would naturally rise with him. At the very least, they would be considered to be following the emperor.

"Proclaim yourself emperor?" Li Zicheng pondered for a while, then slowly shook his head and said, "If I declare myself emperor, wouldn't I become a target?"

Liu Zongmin said carelessly: "Prince Chuang, we are now the target. We have killed several princes. When the old man surnamed Yang is done with the Tartars, he will turn around and deal with us first."

"Yes, King Chuang, proclaim yourself emperor, cheer up your fellow rebels, fight all the way to the capital, and get old Chongzhen out!"

Li Zicheng's trusted general Liu Fangliang shouted in a hoarse voice: "Is there a yellow robe in the camp? Bring it here quickly and put it on the prince!"

Li Zicheng kicked him and said with a smile: "Don't give me that!"

Everyone laughed and the atmosphere became quite lively.

Seeing the eager eyes of the generals of the Chuang army, Li Zicheng said seriously: "Brothers, we have just made a good start. We have not been to many places in Henan. The main force of the officers and soldiers is still there, and we are not yet able to defeat them. Not to mention, there is also Jiang Han in the south who is tougher than us."

Li Zicheng continued, "Also, if I become the emperor, what will the leaders of other rebel armies think? So, I absolutely cannot declare myself emperor!"

Niu Jinxing nodded slowly, deeply admiring Li Zicheng's self-awareness. Indeed, Jiang Han in the south had become a major concern for Li Zicheng's army, just like the imperial court in the north. It was not for any other reason, but because the news they had heard from the south during the period when they had just entered Henan and captured Yongning was really shocking.

Jiang Han's army was extremely famous in Henan, and had great influence in the southeast of Henan. The entire Guide Prefecture had fallen into the hands of Jiang Han's army. Taikang, Chenzhou, Xihua, and Shangshui had also fallen. The army was heading straight for Kaifeng. Every time Jiang Han's army captured a place, they would open the granaries to release grain, send people to clear the people, sweep the streets, and at the same time, dispatch a large number of personnel to build various facilities, and provide them with sufficient wages.

At the same time, the slogan of equal distribution of land and exemption of taxes was put forward. The people would not have to pay any taxes for three years and only needed to rest and recuperate. A large number of jobs were also provided. For a time, the people who came to rely on the government were simply countless.

After only a few months in Henan, Jiang's army had already gathered hundreds of thousands of people. Their development was steady and solid, and they did not fall behind in both the people's livelihood and the military. This put Li Zicheng, who came to Henan, under tremendous pressure. He urgently needed to increase his strength to deal with the dual pressure from Jiang Han and the Ming court.

Li Zicheng's army now is like a wolf caught between two lions, in a dilemma. However, the situation in war is unpredictable. The lion on the left is obviously old and weak and is about to die. Li Zicheng decides to bully him first.

He set his next target in Luoyang.

Volume 380: Chapter Chapter : A brief naval battle

"Are you sure you want to use military force against these red-haired barbarians? Didn't you say you still want to do business?"

Wang Dang was puzzled by Jiang Han's stubborn behavior: "We are still fighting in Henan and Fengyang Prefecture. Moreover, the red-haired barbarians are good at naval warfare. With our navy, it will be difficult to achieve anything."

Jiang Han now has less than 30 ships at most, very few warships, and only two main galleons. Compared with the hundreds of warships the Dutch have in the Far East, they are indeed very weak.

"And now, if we want these new ships, we can only buy them from these foreign countries. If we want to make them ourselves, we have to have blueprints. Otherwise, we have to depend on their attitude."

"This is easy, just buy the blueprints."

Jiang Han's words made Wang Dang smile bitterly: "Who would sell us something that concerns the foundation of the country? Even those giant battleships that were sold to us before... hairtail... oh, the hairtail... oh, the hairtail, we tried several times but he still didn't give in."

"Haha, you've found the wrong person. Daiying is now ambitious and wants to be the overlord of the sea. Although they are thinking about making money now, they are more preparing for the rise of the country. You said that buying ships is ok, but selling blueprints is definitely impossible. You can't buy blueprints from them."

“Who should I buy it from?”

“Spanish, of course.”

"W-what?"

"Spain!"

The Netherlands and Spain have always been at odds. Although the Netherlands separated from Spain sixty years ago and established the United Provinces of the Netherlands, Spain has never recognized it and the two sides have fought wars for decades.

There were many conflicts between the two countries in their colonies around the world. Taiwan is a good example. The Spanish occupied the north of Taiwan and the Dutch occupied the south of Taiwan. The two sides often clashed and had constant friction.

The Netherlands almost monopolized most of the business in the Far East, which made the former big brother Spain very unhappy. How could the son become the father after being raised? In fact, he didn't need to worry so much, because there would be a bigger enemy in the future who would directly make his son the father of all of them.

The Spanish governor in Manila was named Sabignano Manrique de Lara. His situation at this time could be described as that of a mustache officer during World War II. Both Portugal and the Netherlands were at war with Spain. Even the British who came had huge conflicts with Spain on the ocean, and often fought to the death.

Under such circumstances, if someone could extend an olive branch to him and do some business, without affecting the income of the colony, the old Sicilian would be happy to facilitate it. It's just selling blueprints, selling it to a small rebel leader, what's the big deal? He can't take the blueprints one day and make dumplings the next day, right? That's just a joke, right?

"Okay, leave these external matters to me, don't worry, there will be absolutely no problem. These white-skinned devils are afraid of power but not morality, so they have to be beaten up first, then they will look at you in the eye, otherwise you will be a piece of meat on their chopping board. So I have to beat them, and I have to beat them painfully, so that everyone knows what the consequences will be if they mess with me, so that next time they make trouble for me, they will weigh whether they can bear the consequences, and the peace we pursue will come."

Jiang Han's gaze was directed to the clear blue sky outside the window. He seemed to be able to see that, thousands of miles away on the sea, ships of Iron Bloods and military dolls were sailing and getting closer to their targets.

They have set out, and will defeat all enemies in front of them in the most decisive way and bring victory to their commander.

As mentioned before, Jiang Han is a very steady person. He actually does not have a very exact number for how many warships the Netherlands has deployed in the Far East. However, after seeing the files of the battle with British warships and seeing with his own eyes how big the Galleon was, Jiang Han attached great importance to it. This time, he sent three large companies of mechanical units and a brigade of volunteers to ensure that the operation would be foolproof.

Compared to Jiang Han's unethical behavior of sailing out when the war was declared and fully armed, the Dutch were much more relaxed. Even when Paul wrote a report to the Governor of East India, he just treated the incident as a joke. He wrote in the letter:

"The behavior of the Far Eastern rebel leader is ridiculous. My God, he actually said he wanted to attack us, but all his ships can't even form a naval formation."

When this letter came into Anthony's hands, he naturally treated it as a joke and told it to his guests at a banquet. With the help of music and alcohol, everyone laughed at the Far East commander's arrogance, and the whole banquet was filled with a happy atmosphere.

By September, this year's tropical subtropical high is obviously not strong enough and has wilted. A large amount of cold currents are moving southward, and even in Fujian, one can feel the cold wind.

In the cabin of the main ship, the brigade commander was giving a speech to the soldiers: "Soldiers, we are about to reach the waters near Dongfan. Prepare your weapons and stick to your posts. If nothing goes wrong, we will soon have a tough battle. Our enemies are not only the lawless Zheng family who have been here for a long time, but also those jackal-like red-haired barbarians and the uncivilized savages on Dongfan Island. The task is arduous and the responsibility is heavy. Sir has placed this heavy burden on the shoulders of our Third Brigade. Do you have the confidence to complete it?"

"Yes!" The soldiers' voices were deafening.

"Brigade Commander, why do we have to fight this red offender and the Zheng family? Can you tell us?"

One advantage of the Volunteer Army is that before the battle, the instructors would tell the soldiers what the goal of the battle was and why they were fighting. That is, they let the soldiers know why they were fighting. This was part of the ideological education. Because the battle was carried out in a hurry this time, the instructors did not have time to carry out collective education.

"Yes, Brigade Commander, tell us about it."

Someone asked, and the soldiers responded one after another. The volunteers cared about each other very well, and every soldier here could feel a strong sense of belonging.

The brigade commander pressed down with his hand and looked around. "It seems that everyone wants to know. Okay, I will tell you all."

"Everyone may be a little confused. Why? We are fighting well in the north now. The Tartars have been driven away. As long as we advance steadily, we can rescue the people from the hands of the tyrants step by step, so that we can all live a good life."

"But, he wouldn't agree to that damn Zheng Zhilong and those damn red-haired barbarians. Zheng Zhilong was born a pirate. He robbed us and took away the life-saving food of many of our people. The red-haired barbarians were even more of a gang of robbers. They robbed and caused chaos everywhere in their country. Now, they rely on their strong ships and powerful guns to harm others everywhere. Our Dongfan Island was occupied by these red-haired barbarians."

"These people are unreasonable. They want to rob our silver and our food. They also want to station troops in our ports and suck the blood of our people to supply these white-skinned barbarians with wine and entertainment to oppress our people. Tell me, can we agree to this?"

Many of the volunteers clenched their fists after hearing these words: "No!"

"No! Absolutely not!" The young men were furious, and many soldiers raised their fists high to express their anger.

"Yes! We absolutely cannot agree to this! Under your leadership, we have just removed the mountain of violence that was pressing down on us. Do we really want to let these white-skinned foreign devils continue to ride on our heads and shit on us? These people are just like the Tartars. If we don't drive them away, there will be no peace, no dignity, and we won't be able to live a good life!"

"Show them!!"

"This time, we not only want to conquer Dongfan, but also build Dongfan. We want to completely control Dongfan in our own hands and make these foreign devils get out of here. The Ming Dynasty doesn't have the ability to drive away these stinking leeches, so let us come and show these foreign devils what it means to not give up an inch of land!"

"Commander! News has come from the destroyer that an enemy ship has been spotted ahead!"

"Okay!" Putting on his helmet, the brigade commander said murderously, "Get ready, boys. It's time to teach these bandits a lesson! Take your positions!"

"Yes!"

Jiang Han's formation method is to treat the Galleons as aircraft carrier battle groups. Two Galleons are just two aircraft carrier battle groups. Currently, the ships are still relatively tight, and even the cruisers are somewhat unsettled, but it is not a big problem. Although there are not many ships on hand, the firepower is 100% sufficient.

Although the military dolls and Iron Bloods on the ship are not naval combat units, due to their advanced design and powerful firepower, they are more than capable of being deployed on board for naval battles.

The one that was closest to the enemy was the small destroyer at the front of the team. The two Doe SWAPs fixed on the bow and stern of the ship were quite conspicuous.

"Open the defender's shield!, the gunners below are ready to reload!! Pull up the Jaguar!!"

On the other side of the destroyer, they encountered the Dutch cruisers in Taiwan. After seeing the enemy coming aggressively, they knew that the other party was not friendly, so they immediately shouted and entered combat status, pulled open the hull, opened the gun holes on the side of the ship, and aimed dozens of cannons at the two destroyers coming towards them. The dull sound of artillery rumbled, and chain bullets, shrapnel shells, cannon shells, and solid bullets poured towards the destroyers.

The Doe SWAP fire strike system on the bow of the ship responded immediately, and the machine gun opened fire instantly. The extremely high rate of fire made its artillery fire directly turn into an optical fiber in mid-air, intercepting the flying shells one by one.

Jiang Han had long discovered that the firepower strike system of this SWAP version of the Doe was quite powerful. In several battles, its firepower radar was even able to detect enemy shells flying in the air and accurately shoot them down. This gave Jiang Han an idea. This thing of yours is a great candidate for close-in defense guns. It would be a waste of your talent to be thrown into the army. Go and shine on the ship as soon as possible!

Sure enough, in several combat exercises, the Doe SWAP performed very well in intercepting enemy artillery fire. The firing rate of today's muzzle-loading smoothbore artillery shells is completely not enough in front of the terrifying firing rate and radar capture speed of the Doe SWAP, especially if the enemy does not have dozens of guns firing at the same time, the artillery shells really become targets.

"God, what is that thing!!"

The act of SWAP lighting fireworks in mid-air startled the Dutch soldiers on the ship, as if they had seen some miracle. However, before they could finish being surprised, the destroyers began to fight back.

[Enemy position data has been uploaded, fire strike units begin attacking based on the above data]

The battle was about to end from the beginning.

I've been really hurt recently, so I'm thinking about writing a new book to earn a little extra money to make a living. I'll finish this book, so don't worry. I also hope you can support my new book. The subject matter is urban game production, and it focuses on plagiarism, not sensitive topics. The title of the book is "Xu Lao Zei! The gaming industry shouldn't be so complicated." Thank you all!

Volume 381: Chapter Chapter : Zheng Family Attacked

Jiang Han's actions did not stop there. He also sent a number of small warships to the sea, wandering along the route to Japan. What was he doing? Robbery!

The goods we robbed were yours, Zheng Zhilong! You detained me? Then I will detain Ning too!

For a month in a row, Xu Qing had seized more than a dozen merchant ships flying the Zheng family flag. The results of the past few days were enough to drive Zheng Zhilong crazy.

The fleet under Jiang Han's command intercepted nearly a hundred cargo ships sent by Zheng Zhilong to Japan. It is roughly estimated that the merchants suffered losses totaling millions of taels of silver. The Zheng family, which has always been responsible for the safety of trade on the sea, will inevitably cause strong dissatisfaction among Western merchants.

Because according to the agreement between the Zheng family and Western merchants, Western merchants could only trade with Zheng Zhilong and could not trade directly with the Japanese. If they wanted to obtain Japanese goods and gold and silver, they could only do so through Zheng Zhilong, the middleman.

The water in Japan is very deep. You foreigners can’t control it. You have to let me do it. Look how I control it.

But now the question is, uncle, do you have a grasp of it? There are still people who are really desperate and dare to make trouble for you. They are staring at your ship buckle with the big flag of Zheng, and they don't give you any face at all. So you, Zheng Zhilong, have to give us an explanation no matter what, right?

When Zheng Zhilong heard that his goods had been seized by the thief Jiang, he was initially stunned and could not believe it.

After repeated confirmation, I finally believed that there are such stupid people in the world. I seized two ships of your cargo and you are going to fight me to the death, right? Have you been fighting too smoothly these days and you can't recognize yourself?

What's even more outrageous is that he found that the opponent's strength seemed to be quite strong. Zheng Zhilong was surprised to find that although the Zheng family navy was strong enough to monopolize the shipping on the southeast coast, it still underestimated Jiang Han's maritime power.

The pirates secretly supported by the Zheng family were defeated in one blow. Many pirates were thrown into the sea with their ships to feed the fish. This made Zheng Zhilong a little confused. I remember that I saw it correctly. He didn’t have many ships. What’s going on?