Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1162: Southern Front Outbreak
"Sir, Castile has sent another envoy. What should we do with him?"

On the flagship, Tie Xuan, Zhu Su's deputy, was busy in the cabin. Hearing the report from the sergeant, he frowned in displeasure as he was becoming more and more dignified.

"Send someone again? Didn't His Highness already give the order?"

"Just chase him away, why are you asking me?"

In the past few days, the Ming army, which had successfully defeated the main naval force of Castile, attacked in all directions. Except for leaving the flagship at sea and sending three fast ships to guard the Strait of Gibraltar, the rest of the generals attacked in all directions, igniting war along the coast of Castile.

The naval power of Castile had been dispersed by the Ming army, so although the Ming army's fleet was divided, it was still as unstoppable as before. The generals sent whole ships of treasures and goods to the treasure ships, making Tie Xuan, who was responsible for checking the goods, as busy as an ant on a hot pot.

"But..." the soldier was a little hesitant. "That messenger... is someone who understands our Ming Mandarin and keeps yelling at us on the deck all day long."

"To say that what we did was piracy undermines the dignity of a great power."

"The brothers are all worried. If we let him continue to shout like this, it will only destroy the morale of the army..."

After hearing this, Tie Xuan stopped fiddling with the abacus beads, frowned, and looked at the soldier:

"Shake the morale of the army? I am a civil official, but I still understand why our army is here to fight. Could it be that you warriors will be shaken by these hypocritical nonsense?"

"If these countries had not invaded our Ming vassal states and intended to deceive our Ming court and challenge our Ming power, why would we have traveled across the ocean to come here?"

"If we allow them to ride roughshod over the imperial court, it will damage the dignity of our Great Ming! We only allow them to invade our Great Ming vassal states, but we do not allow our Great Ming to fight back? This is called bandit logic!"

Tie Xuan grew older and experienced several years of hardships at sea. Instead of becoming smoother, he became more sharp and stubborn. His words were full of energy, well-reasoned, and stern. They dispelled all the hesitation on the faces of the sergeant and the Ming army officers and soldiers who were listening around him, and they straightened their backs again.

"Besides, Your Highness attaches great importance to military orders and has issued strict orders several times that the people should not be harmed. Although our army is marching in all directions, have we ever taken the initiative to offend the people of that country?" Tie Xuan continued in a loud voice.

"A few days ago, when Young Master Li captured the Port of Cadiz (another important port on the southwest coast of Spain), he saw that the people in the port were being exploited by the nobles of that country and were in a miserable state, so he left a lot of wealth to the people... You should all know about this, so how could you listen to their slanderous words?"

This happened just two days ago. His Royal Highness Prince Zhou used this incident as an example and specially informed the three armies, praising Young Master Li. The soldier naturally knew about it.

He straightened his back and said, "Your Excellency is right. If this happened in our Ming Dynasty, everyone would praise us as a benevolent and righteous army. Even if the old Emperor Hongwu knew about it, he would definitely praise us."

"I know what to do now. I will tell my brothers what you said right now. We will not let the Western barbarians succeed in their scheme to shake the morale of our army!"

"Well, go ahead." Tie Xuan's expression eased, and he waved his hand to let the soldier go. He wanted to continue to check the countless treasures, but after thinking about it, he finally put away the abacus and stood up and went to the main cabin where Zhu Su was.

"Your Highness." After greeting Zhu Su, Tie Xuan said to him:
"Then Castile has sent envoys for the fourth time."

"Okay, got it." Zhu Su didn't react much and said it casually.

Tie Xuan opened his mouth, hesitated for a while, and finally said:

"Your Highness... Master, if we continue to avoid you, will that be a loss of dignity for our great country?"

Seeing that there was no one else here, he used a more intimate address.

"If this country is willing to surrender, we will accept it. Your Highness, why don't you meet him to prevent him from making irresponsible remarks outside and shaking the morale of our army?"

"If he wants to surrender, we can also stand between Portugal and Qatar so that the two countries can restrain each other and benefit from both sides."

After all, he is a civil official. If he can negotiate, he does not want to see the result achieved through war.

"Haha, what's there to talk about. Castile is much stronger than Portugal. Do you really think that this little loss can make them submit to the Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Su didn't even raise his eyes, just looked at the map unfolded on the table and laughed.

"Castle is stronger on land, and the sea attack will not be able to move its bones. They want to negotiate now, but they are just pretending to be nice to us, so that they can guard against the intentions of those Muslim countries."

"You still dare to speak nonsense to us at this time, trying to shake our morale. This is proof. Dingshi, tell me, does this look like you are sincerely begging for mercy?"

"You must remember that these Western countries only remember the beatings and not the food. Since we are going to beat them, we must make sure it hurts and hurts hard enough! It would be best if they remember it for hundreds or thousands of years. This way, the influence of our Ming Dynasty here can last for hundreds or thousands of years."

"When they know to admit defeat and learn to kneel on the ground obediently and beg for forgiveness from the Ming Dynasty, then I will be able to meet them again." Zhu Su's tone was cold and playful.

Tie Xuan shuddered all over and nodded his head hastily, feeling deeply that His Highness was in charge of an army in a foreign land. Although he smiled on weekdays, he actually had the autocratic and majestic power of the old emperor.

"Is there any movement over there, João?" After a moment of silence, Zhu Su asked Tie Xuan.

"Master, I was just about to report this." Tie Xuan said with disciple etiquette.

"The Portuguese ruler is organizing his army and has already raised 9,000 soldiers to prepare for battle at the border."

"He sent a message saying that when we attack north, he will be our vanguard on land."

"Oh, he has a good plan." Zhu Su laughed sarcastically. But it is understandable that Portugal is too weak. Without the Ming fleet to support them at sea, they really don't have the strength to invade Castile, which is already in a state of panic.

"In my reply, if he wants my Ming fleet to protect him, that's fine. But the reason he declares war on Castile must be to denounce the King of Castile for sending troops to join the Crusades and arbitrarily provoking a war between the peninsula and my Ming Dynasty, making his Portugal's Lisbon the first to suffer retaliation from my Ming Dynasty." Zhu Su said.

As soon as this declaration of war came out, there was no doubt that João had already boarded the pirate ship. Even if he did not openly turn against the church, he would have to think twice if he wanted to get closer to the church again.

"What are the recent developments of the Muslim country in the south?" Zhu Su asked again.

"According to intelligence reports, the Muslim countries, led by Granada, are all eager to take action after hearing that the Ming Dynasty and Castile have gone to war. There have been many frictions on the border." Tie Xuan reported. "However, a full-scale war has not yet begun."

"Their power has been eroded for hundreds of years, and there is not much left, so they will be more cautious." Zhu Su said. "But it is precisely because of this that they have a deep hatred for Castile, and they will never let go of this opportunity."

"Keep sending people to investigate. When they start a full-scale war with Castile and tie down the forces in the southern part of Castile, we will immediately return to assist Joao in attacking the northern part of Castile."

"Haha, Jiujiang complained to me a few days ago that there is not much money left in the south of Ka Country... It's time to move to another place."

Ten days later, news came that the Sultan of Granada had assembled his army and declared war on Castile under the pretext of revenge. All the remaining Muslim (Taiwanese) countries on the peninsula responded, and Castile's southern line was in danger. As soon as Zhu Su confirmed the news, he immediately assembled a fleet, and the treasure fleet, with its ships full of wealth, set off southward in a mighty manner.

(End of this chapter)