My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 316 Hongwu Pirate King

The atmosphere in the imperial study was a bit depressing. Zhu Yuanzhang's face was ashen, his brows were furrowed, and there seemed to be anger in his eyes. No one knew what he was thinking at this moment.

Xu Da and Li Wenzhong also had serious expressions, their eyes fixed on the nautical chart, their fingertips pointing from the Ryukyu Islands to the Strait of Malacca.

Tang He's face was full of reluctance and anger. He turned back halfway on his first voyage and failed to complete the original plan. Although he did a lot of business with foreign countries along the way, he made a lot of money from this maritime trade.

However, the failure to cross the Malacca Strait and the inability to open up a route to India was a huge shame for this veteran.

Finally, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke, "Pirates?"

Just two words, but they expressed endless murderous intent.

Tang He took a deep breath. He knew Zhu Yuanzhang's character. There was no point in saying more at this time. He just needed to answer truthfully whatever His Majesty wanted to know.

"Your Majesty, it's pirates!"

"Japanese pirates?" Zhu Yuanzhang uttered the two words again, but his eyes were fixed on the Ryukyu Islands and the Japanese archipelago.

"Not all of them are Japanese pirates, but..." Tang He organized his words and continued, "There are Japanese, natives from various Western countries, and..."

He paused, looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, then looked at Xu Da and Li Wenzhong, gritted his teeth and said, "There are still people from the Ming Dynasty!"

"People from the Ming Dynasty?" Several people were shocked. Zhu Yuanzhang was even more furious. He stared at Tang He and looked at his face carefully. He said word by word: "Why would people from the Ming Dynasty go to the West to become pirates?"

At this time, Li Wenzhong also asked: "Lao Tang, did we encounter pirates along the way? How many waves of pirates were there?"

Tang He shook his head, came to the nautical chart, and explained to the others, "After the fleet set out, it followed the established route and first arrived at Ryukyu, signed a treasure note use agreement and a garrison agreement with the King of Nanshan and the King of Beishan of Ryukyu, and then headed south.

Everything was going well at this time, but after arriving in the waters near Luzon, ships of various sizes began to fall behind the fleet.

At this time I thought they were local fishing boats, but I felt more and more that something was wrong. These boats did not cast nets to catch fish, but followed the fleet closely, as if they were trying to find out about our situation.

It was not until I ordered the firing of warning shots that these ships dispersed. However, as we got closer to Malacca, more and more ships followed us, until we reached Temasek, where they attacked us!
Fortunately, our muskets were sharp and we repelled their attack, but their large numbers and large number of ships blocked the Strait of Malacca, making it impossible for the fleet to cross the strait and they had to return empty-handed. "

Having said that, Tang He took a deep breath, calmed down his excitement, and continued:

“The fleet was unable to cross the Strait of Malacca and could only temporarily anchor at Temasek. But as soon as we docked, the pirates also docked and contacted more accomplices to continue to attack us.

Fortunately, the Firearm Battalion had sufficient ammunition, which helped to repel their attack. I originally wanted to wipe out these pirates on land in one fell swoop, but there were too many pirates and the Firearm Battalion had no supplies in the vast ocean, so I gave up the idea.

However, what I didn't expect was that the pirates dared to send envoys to negotiate. They put forward a condition that if the Ming fleet wanted to pass through the Strait of Malacca, they must leave money to buy their way through!"

"Payment for passage?" Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he laughed, but his eyes became more and more sharp, as if they were about to burst into flames. "What specific conditions did they propose?" Xu Da asked.

Tang He snorted coldly and said disdainfully: "One ship and one box of gold!"

"One ship and one box of gold?" Zhu Yuanzhang calmed down at this time, "They have a good appetite! Who are these pirates?"

“Your Majesty, when I was in Temasek, I sent out elite spies, and the information I got was that these pirates were mostly refugees from various foreign countries, but they were mainly from the Ming Dynasty. They were well-organized and extremely brutal, and their leader was a Ming Dynasty man named Chen Zuyi!
This person is very arrogant and will not let go of any passing ship."

"Chen Zuyi?" Zhu Yuanzhang clenched his fists and laughed instead of getting angry: "The unruly people of the Ming Dynasty actually blackmailed the Ming Dynasty's fleet. They are so bold!"

"What is this person's native place and where is he from?" Li Wenzhong suddenly asked.

"This man is from Guangdong, and most of his Ming people are from Guangdong, Guangxi and southern Fujian. Others are from Fuzhou, Johor, Luzon, Java, Siam and other places. The composition is quite complicated."

As a military general, Tang He naturally possessed these basic qualities. He was followed by pirates for unknown reasons and several conflicts broke out. If he couldn't even figure out the basic situation of the enemy, Tang He thought he could retire and return to his hometown to farm.

"Moreover, I have also found out that the Chen family has been entrenched in Malacca for more than ten years. They are the leader of Western pirates. All forces and even the monarchs of some small countries have to act according to the wishes of the Chen family."

"Then why didn't they take any action when the fleet went out to sea for the first time, but showed up in a hurry this time?" Li Wenzhong asked somewhat puzzled.

Xu Da touched his chin and answered for Tang He, "When the fleet sailed for the first time, Chen Zuyi was afraid that he could not figure out our details, so he did not act rashly. But after seeing Xu Huizu's fleet return with a full load, he could not help but take action when he saw the fleet for the second time."

He paused, then said to Zhu Yuanzhang:
"Your Majesty, I think that we must investigate the details of Chen Zuyi. A Ming Dynasty man could actually build such a huge force in the West. If the Ming Dynasty wants to carry out maritime trade smoothly in the future, these pirates must be eliminated!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. Even if Xu Da hadn't said it, he had already made up his mind to kill. If he didn't catch Chen Zuyi and his gang of pirates in one fell swoop, it would not only have a serious impact on the future maritime trade of the Ming Dynasty, but would also weaken the national prestige of the Ming Dynasty. It would also be difficult to relieve the hatred in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart!
Not only that, if Chen Zuyi's gang can be wiped out in one fell swoop, it will also allow the Ming Dynasty to establish its prestige in the West and deter all the villains. Thinking of this, he immediately asked Tang He:

“Is Chen Zuyi’s home base located in Temasek?”

Tang He shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, the situation among Western countries is chaotic, the terrain is complex, and there are many islands. The countries are simply unable to govern them. Chen Zuyi also took the opportunity to establish a sphere of influence among the countries. However, his base is not in Temasek. As for where it is exactly, I have not yet found out. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "Old Tang, you were able to come back unscathed this time, and you also ensured the smooth progress of the trade. It was not easy, so what crime have you committed?"

"Your Majesty, I have a suggestion, please approve it!" Tang He continued.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "Old Tang, just tell me what you think!"

Tang He said: "During this naval battle with pirates, I found that the range and power of the new rifles were still insufficient to effectively destroy the enemy. Therefore, I have been thinking about whether it is possible to install cannons on steamships, so that even at sea, the pirates' ships can be sunk!"

(End of this chapter)