After listening to Wang Chengen's report, Zhu Youxiao's face turned cold.

Hai Lanzhu, who had already put on her clothes, had to stand honestly on the side, not daring to act rashly at all.

It seemed as if in a moment, the originally hot air instantly solidified. When a breeze blew, you could hear the creaking sound of the window lattice being shaken.

In fact, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but worry about this. He didn't know how strong the Zheng pirates were. Some ministers said they were just some small thieves who robbed their families, and some ministers said that Zheng Zhilong was rich enough to rival a country and could easily destroy a small country in Southeast Asia.

Zhu Youxiao checked the information himself but could not judge the true strength of the Zheng pirate. But he could be sure that the comprehensive strength of the Zheng pirates is definitely stronger than his North Sea Fleet. Otherwise, Zhu Youxiao would not have given the intention of sending the Ryukyu Kingdom's fleet to annex the entire army rather than escape in the face of the battle.

Zhu Youxiao did not expect that a modern warship equipped with steam-powered machines could directly defeat the Zheng pirate group by relying on a modern warship equipped with steam-powered machines. The political goal he wanted to achieve was to cause severe damage to the Zheng pirates at the cost of sacrificing a fleet, and to tell the Zheng pirates that although you are strong at sea, it does not mean that the existence of the court can be ignored. Sooner or later, the court will become the real master of this sea area!

Of course, Zhu Youxiao still had a naive fantasy, that is, Zheng Zhilong did not dare to act against himself, so he would not attack the imperial fleet with great fanfare. If this is the case, he would have to regain his views on Zheng Zhilong, and perhaps he would have decided that Zheng Zhilong could be considered a good person who obeyed the notice.

But reality broke Zhu Youxiao's fantasy and brought Zhu Youxiao back to reality again, making him understand again that the strong will not easily bow to the weak and give up their own interests unless you can prove that you are stronger than him.

However, Zhu Youxiao showed that Zheng Zhilong did not seem to want to admit that he was weaker than the court, and he was eager to prove that he was stronger than the court. Therefore, he ignored the so-called orthodox court and the righteousness of the monarch and ministers, and directly dispatched the most powerful troops to deal with the main purpose of going to the Ryukyu Kingdom to enthrone and trade fleets.

To be honest, Zhu Youxiao did not want his First Fleet in the North Sea to become a victim. Everyone knows how much effort, manpower and financial resources he spent to build this fleet with steam-powered warships. He did not learn from the Navy's military funds to build a garden called the Summer Palace for himself. Even the Hall of Supreme Harem, which was hit by lightning last year, was burned out by most of the Supreme Harem, did not have time to repair it.

Although there is also a factor in which he deliberately wanted to show off and said that he was a frugal king, it was also related to the busy investing money to the Ming Shipbuilding Bureau and speeding up the reorganization of the first warship.

Zhu Youxiao didn't know what the result would be for his First Fleet in the North Sea. He could accept the annihilation of the entire army, but he did not want these navies to be afraid of fighting and would even be included by Zheng's pirates.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao's face became even more ugly, but his creepy eyes could not be seen in the dim space, but Wang Chengen could still feel a sudden murderous aura.

"Wang Cheng'en!" Zhu Youxiao suddenly roared, scaring Wang Cheng'en couldn't help but tremble, and responded quickly.

"Transfer an order to Xu Xianchun to monitor the generals above the commanders and commanders of the First Fleet of the Beihai Sea at any time. If a person who surrenders to the enemy appears, he will destroy the three tribes!"

Zhu Youxiao's words were very plain, but it made Wang Chengen feel an inexplicable chill that rushed straight to his back. This is His Majesty today. When you give you status and glory, you will turn against each other in an instant. You will suffer cruel punishment for betrayal at any time.

Wang Chengen retreated. When he conveyed his will to Xu Xianchun, who had been waiting outside the palace for a long time, he suddenly asked: "Commander Xu, who do you think His Majesty is most favored today?"

"The emperor's heart is unpredictable, even the prince and the prince do not know. How can I guess it?" Xu Xianchun naturally knew that Wang Chengen suddenly felt fear and doubt after his Majesty wanted to put the butcher knife on the heads of these relatives of the Imperial Guard soldiers who had said they were the ones he trusted the most. However, as a hawk in Zhu Youxiao, he naturally did not dare to say whether the matter was correct, so he deliberately pretended to be crazy and stupid and said a few words.

But Xu Xianchun had to admit that he felt a little uncomfortable, just like Wang Chengen. He would be ruthless when he killed the Donglin Party. After all, those hypocritical civil servants were a group of selfish and dirty groups, but these Imperial Guard soldiers were all young soldiers who joined the Imperial Guard system with passion. Most of them were simple in their minds or even very few because they became extremely loyal because they were constantly brainwashed by Zhu Youxiao.

Now, Your Majesty wants his Jinyiwei to aim his butcher knife at these people who should be the most trusted by Your Majesty but are still secretly plotted against by Your Majesty. Even if Xu Xianchun thinks that he is already the most heartless person, he can't accept it calmly.

In fact, it was not only Wang Chengen and Xu Xianchun who felt quite uncomfortable about this. Even Zhu Youxiao himself could not accept the decision he had just made, but reason told him that as an emperor, he had to do this!

There is no way. Looking at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were too few people who were truly loyal, both civil officials and military generals, so Zhu Youxiao had to be cautious!

Of course, this is just a preparation for the worst outcome.

Zhu Youxiao also made another preparation. He ordered Wang Chengen to pass an order to Yang Shouchun of the Royal Bank to prepare a generous pension immediately, and also asked the Ministry of Personnel to prepare how to grant his wife and son if he died, and posthumously grant him a posthumous title. If all the officers and soldiers of the North Sea Fleet were all fulfilled, Zhu Youxiao General would raise them at all costs to shape the backbone of the Ming army.

At the same time, on the second day, Zhu Youxiao General Li Mingrui called and ordered: "You immediately follow my orders and rush to Fujian to ask Zheng Zhilong about offending the imperial court's mission to the Ryukyu fleet, see how it explains, and respond to the war results. Don't let Zheng Zhilong take advantage or lose the face of the court. If necessary, you can appease Zheng Zhilong well. If it really doesn't work, you can give him the Quanzhou, Kinmen and other places!"

Zhu Youxiao was not sure how sincere Zheng Zhilong would accept the court's envoy now. At least from the fact that he dared to start with the imperial mission, it can be seen that the recruitment and appeasement of Zheng Zhilong seemed not easy. Zhu Youxiao had to make the worst plan, that is, once Zheng Zhilong defeated his imperial guard again, he would have to temporarily endure and give in.

"I took the order", Li Mingruicha felt uneasy in his Majesty Zhu Youzhao, but he was not Lu Xiangsheng or Yang Sichang, so he could not get involved in military affairs, and he could not comfort Zhu Youzhao.

But Li Mingrui knew what his mission was this time, and there might be only two possibilities. One is that our side won a great victory, and he could ask Zheng Zhilong arrogantly why he dared to offend Tianwei; the other is that his side suffered a great defeat. Not only could he not blame Zheng Zhihu, but on the contrary, he had to comfort him with kind words, which was undoubtedly the most atrocity.

Li Mingrui, who is good at observing words and expressions, can see from his expression just now that the latter seems to be the most likely, that is, he must be mentally prepared to compromise in front of Zheng Zhilong, a big pirate.

However, what made Li Mingrui suddenly feel a sense of fear was why His Majesty asked him to take on such an errand? This is obviously a errand to take the blame.

Just imagine, such a thing must be servile to Zheng Zhilong, but as the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, His Majesty must not admit that he asked him, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, to plead with his face. His Majesty, who wants to be faced, will definitely transfer the anger of the people of the world to him and use punishment to calm the anger of the people of the world and protect his face of His Majesty the Emperor.

When Li Mingrui thought of this, he couldn't help but sweat.

But this was the emperor's will. No matter how reluctant he was, he had to obey it. What made him sigh was that His Majesty was more focused on Qian Qianyi, otherwise he would not have let himself take the blame.

The depressed widow, Li Mingrui, had just made a simple preparation and left the capital three days later, arranged the ceremony of first-class officials, and set off for Fujian.

But who knew that just as Li Mingrui's guard of honor left the ten-mile pavilion outside the capital, he heard a sound of gongs and drums, followed by the sound of firecrackers.

Li Mingrui was feeling depressed. After being quarreled, he couldn't help but lift the curtain and curse a few times. Unexpectedly, when he opened the curtain, he saw that the cabinet assistant Qian Qianyi was leading a group of officials to wait with a smile on his face.

"I heard that Mr. Li went to Lingnan this time to appease the seaside for His Majesty. This is a great achievement of volunteering and a great achievement of being a marquis!"

Qian Qianyi naturally knew that Li Mingrui was going to Fujian for 80% to take the blame for His Majesty and might be punished by His Majesty for taking the opportunity to be punished, so he hurriedly went out of the city to send off his old rival.

Li Mingrui naturally knew that Qian Qianyi was a weasel to greet the chickens with New Year's greetings - he had no good intentions, but he could only bear it and had to thank him one by one: "Oh, Lord Guan, you came to give it to me, you are so kind."

Li Mingrui was grateful while gritting his teeth and his heart was dripping with blood.

But at this moment, a sudden burst of anxious horse hooves came from the front: "Eight hundred miles in a hurry! Idle people avoid it!"

At the same time, the postman who was riding a horse quickly shouted: "Great victory! Qin Bohai, the general of the North Sea Fleet, presented the news of the great victory in the Battle of Ryukyu, captured the pirate leader Zheng Zhihu alive, and sunk the 50 pirate warships of Liu Chuan!"

"A great victory?"

Li Mingrui couldn't help but clean his ears and asked the slave beside him: "Just now, did that man shout a great victory?"

At the same time, Qian Qianyi and other officials who were gloating were also confused and asked their slaves: "Just now, did that person shout a great victory?"

As the sound of horse hooves ticked away, Li Mingrui and Qian Qianyi were silent at this moment, but after a moment they shouted together: "Hurry up, enter the palace immediately."

"Master, the man just called for a great victory, as if he was talking about the First Fleet of the North Sea, and he also caught a pirate leader." Li Mingrui, who endured the violent shaking of the sedan chair, suddenly smiled after hearing the servant's answer. If Qin Botong and others really defeated the Zheng pirates, then going to Fujian this time would not be a chore, but a great joy. He would even be remembered by His Majesty for successfully advising Zheng Zhilong.

When Li Mingrui thought of this, his mood suddenly became dark and he hurriedly shouted to Qian Qianyi, who was also moving fast beside him: "Gei Qian, thank you for your kindness, Mr. Li is so grateful!"

Qian Qianyi was sitting in the sedan chair at this time and his face was very ugly. He thought that this naval battle would be defeated, otherwise a newspaper and magazine specializing in military war would not have produced various data to prove the gap between the court and the Zheng pirates. The logic and sufficient reasons made him Qian Qianyi have to believe it, so he was very glad when he learned that Li Mingrui would go to Fujian to question the big pirate Zheng Zhilong because of this.

But he didn't expect that the ending of the matter would turn out to be the court that won, and now he couldn't gloat!

The two entered the Qianqing Palace together, and Zhu Youxiao also received news of a great victory at this time. He suddenly felt relieved. He didn't have so much energy to care about how he won. As an emperor, he only cared about the results.

The result was obviously beyond his expectations. Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied. Although he didn't know why Qian Qianyi and Li Mingrui arrived together at this time, he was in a good mood and didn't care about so much. He hurriedly ordered people to invite the two of them in and said with a smile: "Two my dear friends, do you know that my Ming Dynasty Imperial Guard Navy's First Fleet defeated Zheng Zhihu and captured Zheng Zhihu alive. The one named Gu Sanmazi is really good. But what makes me smile bitterly is that he was the worst injured in the entire First Fleet of Beihai and even discounted his legs. I have allowed him to come back to recuperate for several months, haha."

Zhu Youxiao is in great interest now, and as he talks, he can't help but laugh.

"Your Majesty's magical martial arts!" Li Mingrui was in a very good mood. He sincerely bowed to Zhu Youxiao, his face full of smiles, and the newly grown wrinkles seemed to have been reduced a lot.

"Your Majesty's magical martial arts!" Qian Qianyi's voice was like a mosquito and flies, and he seemed not very sincere, and the smile on his face seemed very stiff.

Zhu Youxiao was also a little surprised when he saw the two of them with different expressions. He couldn't help but glared at Qian Qianyi. Qian Qianyi was so scared that he couldn't help but tremble, and he had to suppress his unhappy mood and laughed a few times.

"Old Master Qian, what are you doing? You should pay attention to your subordinates in front of you," Li Mingrui couldn't help asking.

"I am happy, I am so happy. I have lost my composure. Please forgive me, Your Majesty," Qian Qianyi replied hurriedly.

"Why do I feel like you are not laughing, but crying?" Li Mingrui's words made Qian Qianyi feel more uncomfortable as if he was stabbing Qian Qianyi with a knife, but he couldn't say anything except scolding Li Mingrui.

Seeing that the two of them had a strange funny and abnormal expression, Zhu Youxiao was indeed dissatisfied with Qian Qianyi's hypocritical appearance, so he said, "I guess Mr. Qian is not very good at laughing, so he goes down to do his own business."

Li Mingrui and Qian Qianyi hurriedly walked out.

But not long after the two left, Liu Ruoyu, the admiral of the East Factory, came to Zhu Youxiao and reported to Qian Qianyi for sending Li Mingrui this morning.
Chapter completed!