"Captain, break through!" The adjutant shouted.

Simon said depressedly: "I can't run, even if I succeed in breaking through, I will be caught up by Chinese warships." ”

The Portuguese fleet was a return voyage, and both warships and armed merchant ships were loaded with cargo. They were very greedy, and it was Simon's captain's room, and there were also bundles of silk fabrics, which were Simon's private goods.

Even if they were more skilled in sailing, even if they were more experienced in naval warfare, the Portuguese fleet, which could be fully loaded with cargo, was much less agile and faster.

Yasan the Fire suddenly ran out and muttered, "My lord, surrender." ”

"Smack!"

Simon slapped him, turning the fire Yasan in a circle, and he said angrily: "The great Portuguese fleet will not surrender to the enemy!" Unless......" Simon said with a dry mouth as he looked at the giant treasure ship, "unless, there really is no chance of winning." ”

The Fire Warrior Yasan lay on the deck, his face hot and his eyes extremely vicious.

Dai Zhiquan, the deputy Qianhu, has also begun to take over at this time. The officers and men of the sailor division, who took the lead in jumping the gang, were greeted by a row of muskets by the enemy, and more than 10 people were killed and wounded on the spot, but more than 30 of them succeeded in jumping the gang.

Dai Zhiquan wielded a one-handed sword, although he was not as powerful as Ning Botao, but he also sacrificed his life to lead the team to kill.

Why did Man Zheng, Dai Zhiquan, Ning Botao and others suddenly become brave?

Because this battle was ordered by the emperor himself, if you lose, you will definitely not have good fruit to eat, but if you win, you can win the emperor's favor!

"Sons, seal your wife and son, at this time!"

From the slogan shouted by Dai Zhiquan, we know that his source of motivation is to sacrifice his life to earn a future.

Man Zheng didn't have to bother so much, he sat on the treasure ship and ordered the cannons, only knowing that he relied on the power of the cannons to bomb indiscriminately. The treasure ship's infirmary was hit by a few shots, but it had been violently collapsed, and the hull of the ship had been blasted out of a big hole, but the treasure ship was still very strong.

"Boom!"

Another 500-pound cannon hit, and the Portuguese side ship, whose mainmast had already been broken, finally sank at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Simon has made a final effort, but the Chinese treasure ship is unsinkable. He didn't dare to go over to the broadside, and when he saw the size of the other party, he knew that there were many troops on the ship, and the broadside battle was purely to bring food to the enemy. What's even more speechless is that the five-hour-long storm has already blown up the formation of the Portuguese formation, and it is almost in chaos at the moment, and the number of Ming warships is even more!

Simon's hatred, if he knew that he would have loaded less cargo and returned home, otherwise he wouldn't have escaped for three days without success.

"Raise the white flag!" Simon closed his eyes.

It is recorded in the "Zizhi Tongjian" that Cao Cao attacked Yecheng, and Li Fu suggested that the trial should be matched, and the old and young in the city should be released, and they would surrender with white flags. Li Fu mixed in with the surrendering crowd and quietly fled by himself.

The white flag represents surrender, and Man Zheng can clearly understand it. The guy smiled at the left and right: "A few days ago, Simon had a drink with Lao Tzu, saying that he did not have a white flag on his ship, because the Portuguese fleet never surrendered. It's all bragging, and the white flag is better than anyone else! ”

The Portuguese fleet closed the gun windows, threw down their weapons, and gradually moved closer to the treasure ship.

Man Zheng immediately ordered the warships to sail away, take over the Portuguese ships, and tie up all the enemy soldiers and keep them in custody.

In this battle, the Portuguese had a total of sixteen ships, two were sunk, two were occupied, and the remaining twelve were all seriously damaged. On the way back to Hangzhou, another surrendered enemy ship sank into the sea with a full load of cargo, and the Chinese fleet could not save it.

As for the Qiantang Sailor side, more than 80 people died and more than 300 were injured. And at least half of the dead and injured were due to the storm, and there were not a few unlucky people who were killed and injured. Two other warships lost their mobility and could only be towed back to Hangzhou by friendly ships, but none of them sank, and the watertight cabin technology was still very effective.

"It's you!"

Simon was escorted to the treasure ship, and when he saw Man Zheng at a glance, he was immediately angry. The Chinese naval commander in front of him was still drinking with him a few days ago, and he never revealed his identity, only saying that he was a Chinese army general.

Man Zheng summoned the fire man Yasan: "You come to translate and tell him what the surprise is." ”

The Fire Fighter Yasan translated: "My lord, the Chinese commander said that he had prepared a surprise for you. ”

Simon was still stiff-mouthed: "You have a lot of boats, and the ships are big, so you can't sink them." And my fleet is full of cargo, and the draft is too deep to run fast, otherwise there are countless tactics to defeat you! ”

Yasan the Fire translates truthfully.

Man Zheng suddenly laughed: "If you lose, you lose, what excuse do you have for yourself?" ”

A sailor suddenly reminded: "Chief soldier, we have to be careful in the future." When a warship goes to sea to do business, it is best not to bring too much goods, otherwise it will be difficult to exert its due combat power when encountering a real opponent. ”

"Well," Man Zheng nodded and said, "People die for money, and birds die for food, so you should indeed be vigilant." ”

When the Qiantang Naval Division, escorting the Portuguese fleet and soldiers, returned to Hangzhou Bay, the entire city of Hangzhou was in a sensation, and the gentry, officials and people came to see the excitement.

Zhu Houzhao personally greeted the triumphant officers and soldiers, and made Man Zheng, Dai Zhiquan, and Ning Botao tremble with excitement.

"Erlang, how about escorting these red-haired ghosts into Beijing and offering them to Taimiao?" Zhu Houzhao suddenly asked with a smile.

Wang Yuan replied: "There are a few barbarians, there is no need to mobilize the army. Twenty percent of the seized sea vessels and goods were given to the Third Division of Zhejiang, and the rest belonged to the Qiantang Water Division. As for the officers and sailors of the Franc plane, they were very experienced in naval warfare and could be interrogated separately, and those who were not Portuguese were left behind and recruited to be stuffed into the Great Ming Naval Division. If it is Portuguese, let the Portuguese governor spend money to ransom it. The price is clearly marked, how much is the captain, how much is the conductor, how much is the sailor. ”

"Hahahaha!"

Zhu Houzhao laughed wildly: "Our monarchs and ministers, won't they become kidnapped?" ”

Wang Yuan defended: "This is the Portuguese state, which took the lead in attacking the fleet of the Ming vassal country in the Daming Sea. We have enough legitimate reasons to send troops to intervene, how can we use the analogy of kidnapping? ”

"That's okay, according to what Erlang said." Zhu Houzhao was in a very happy mood.

Wang Yuan also said: "Officials should be sent to Manraka by boat to negotiate and negotiate. The Francophone fleet was ordered not to use force in the Ming Sea in the future, nor to attack the subject countries of the Ming Dynasty at will. ”

"Yes." Zhu Houzhao nodded and said.

The Japanese and Ryukyu maritime merchants who escaped death also came to congratulate and thank them when they heard that the Ming sailors had wiped out the Franc fleet. They offered "exquisite" goods, knelt outside the door of the Jianghuai Hall, and frantically kowtowed to thank the Ming Emperor for his kindness - in fact, they wanted to see the emperor, maybe they could also get benefits.

Wang Yuan, on behalf of the emperor, learned from them, and after some pacification, he directly said to the maritime merchants of the two countries: "Within ten years, the merchant ships of all countries will sell copper to the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty will be exempted from customs duties." ”

Maritime merchants from the two countries rejoiced because the Ryukyu Islands also had copper mines.

As for the Shimazu clan, there are also copper mines on their site. Even if you don't have enough copper to produce yourself, you can buy copper from other Japanese feudal countries through the Seto Inland Sea.

The Shimadzu clan is located in the southwestern part of Kyushu, and the entire Kyushu is full of copper mines. Because of Wang Yuan's words, the Shimazu clan soon brewed a war, and the soldiers pointed directly at their neighbor Hefu clan.

There is no way, you can only attack the Sagara clan to the north, but the Sagara clan is in its heyday, and the Shimazu clan can't fight at all, so there is only one option to attack the liver Fu clan.

More than ten years ago, the Shimazu clan and the liver Fu clan were still partners, and they went together to attack Shibu Shijo. After three years of fighting, he was stunned and didn't fight down, and the head of the Shimazu clan committed suicide in defeat, and somehow counted the hatred on the head of the liver Fu clan. The two families were already in deep contradictions, and a war could break out at any time, but now that the Ming Dynasty was exempt from the copper tax, interests and hatred were superimposed, and the Shimazu clan attacked like crazy.

Not only that, but the Ouchi clan also gave up eastward expansion and chose to go south to attack the Shaoji clan and the Otomo clan, wanting to occupy several copper mines in Kitakyushu.

A war broke out in the north and south of Kyushu at the same time, known as the "Battle of Kyushu Island Copper" in history, and the culprit was Wang Erlang.

Wang Yuan said that he was very innocent, I just wanted to get some copper to mint money, and the ghost knew that the Japanese daimyo would directly open the scoop between them.