"This Xu Fu...... Why don't you care about something so important as finding the elixir? Zhu Cihong interrupted Zhang Huangyan's words, shook his head again and again, and looked very disappointed!

Zhang Huangyan was also a little disappointed - why do you, Mingjun, want to take the elixir of life? This thing has been used for many emperors since ancient times!

Zhu Cihong said: "What happened later? ”

Zhang Huangyan hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, later Xu Fu fought on these three big islands, relying on 500 boys and 500 virgins, as well as some monks, sailors, and soldiers who went with the ship, to fight bravely to kill the enemy, and soon conquered many indigenous tribes. The natives of the three islands call themselves Wa people, and they also call the place where they live ......"

"Wa Guo? Isn't that Japan? Zhu Cihong was surprised, "Then did Xu Fu find an immortal on the land of Japan?" ”

"I don't know about this," Zhang Huang said, "but Xu Fu is likely to leave a descendant!" ”

"Really?" Zhu Cihong was very interested, "Who are his descendants?" ”

"The current king is very likely to be after Xu Fu!" Zhang Huang said, "Because Xu Fu is likely to be the ancestor of the Wa King, the Shenwu Wa King." And his Shenwu King is still sealed by the First Emperor! ”

"What? The first emperor named Xu Fu as the king of Shenwu? Zhu Cihong was stunned for a moment, "Then isn't Japan a vassal of my Celestial Empire since ancient times?" ”

"That's right!" Zhang Huangyan said, "It has been since ancient times...... Therefore, the Cabinet Office suggested that the imperial court send personnel to Japan to investigate the matter, if it is true, the king of the Japanese king and the emperor will be a big disobedient! ”

"We must find out!" Zhu Cihong said, "We still have to find out if there is an elixir!" ”

Several strange eyes fell on Emperor Zhu, and Emperor Zhu seemed to be aware of it, and hurriedly added: "It's not me who wants to ...... It's for the Emperor Taishang and his old man's family! The emperor is old, his body is not as good as day by day, and he urgently needs the elixir to prolong his life! ”

I see!

The courtiers thought to themselves: After the Emperor Taishang's year passed 40, the dragon body is indeed not as good as before, and the emperor's children born in the past two years are much less than in the previous two years, and only 5 children were added last year......

"Who can make this trip?" Zhu Cihong asked again.

"Your Majesty, the minister can go to Japan." The one who volunteered was Admiral Zheng Jiangong.

A while ago, he asked Zhu Cihong to be the admiral of the Oriental Fleet, and he had already obtained permission, and now he can go to Jiaozhou Bay to take up his post when Gu Rong (Gu San Mazi) comes back from Beiyang to take over as the naval envoy.

The Oriental Fleet had set up bases in Nagasaki, the Goto Islands, and Puga, and Zheng Jiangong was going to inspect it as usual after taking office, so he happened to stop by to ask about Xu Fu.

"Okay!" Zhu Cihong said, "There will be meritorious work...... If the Wawang is really Xu Fu, he must ask about the elixir, and the Emperor Taishang can wait to take it! ”

It's about the elixir, of course Zheng Jiangong can't delay! So he didn't wait for Gu Rong, and set off immediately after the New Year, going to Shanghai first. Then board the gunboat Yingtianfu, which had just entered service, and head straight for Japan.

The Yingtianfu gunboat is a so-called bombardment gunboat, which is a sail battleship specially designed to equip bombardment guns.

The deadweight tonnage of Ying Tianfu is as high as 1,000 tons! The upper deck is very flat, with no high bow and stern towers, and no superstructure. On the deck, in addition to the three tall masts, there are four uncovered batteries arranged diagonally. The turret is located at the edge of the deck, protruding slightly outward, and placed on it are 4 latest 32-pound bombardment guns, which can be rotated 180 degrees.

Two of the 32-pound guns could fire straight ahead, and the other two 32-pound guns could fire backwards.

Of course, the two 32-pound guns located near the bow were more troublesome when firing forward, and the sails on the bow mast had to be completely closed first, and the bow mast of this class of battleships was particularly straight, almost horizontally protruding forward, and there was no first mast upper mast - that is, adding an upward mast to the first mast for hanging sails was a common design for Dutch warships.

In addition to the four 32-pound guns, the Yingtianfu-class battleships were also equipped with 16 24-pound short guns, which were placed on the gun deck below the upper deck. In order to prevent fire and explosion, every two 24-kilogram guns have a separate gun compartment - that is, a thick wooden board brushed with fireproof paint is used to separate a "small room" on both sides, and two 24-kilogram guns are placed inside, one to the left and the other to the right.

When this class of battleships is engaged in an artillery battle, if they meet the enemy on the side and fire as many as 10 shells at the same time, the firepower is very powerful!

However, at this time, there were no Spanish privateers in the Oriental Sea who dared to attack the Ming ships - after the Battle of Nishisaka Castle and the Battle of Funai Castle, the Spaniards began to deploy and retreat, so the ships of the Spanish Eastern Fleet and all the ships they could collect that were willing to serve King Philip were used to transport people. The Spaniards from Luzon were transported to Kyushu, Japan, and then evacuated to the New World with other Spaniards and Japanese on board......

And the Ming navy did not interfere with the retreat of the Spaniards - there were five or six hundred thousand Spaniards in the New World, not as many as a few thousand. The evacuation of the Spaniards from the western Pacific could make the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty no longer worry, and the naval fleet, which had a close relationship with the Ming maritime merchants, was naturally unwilling to stop Spain from leaving.

Therefore, Zheng Jiangong's journey to Japan was neither unexpected nor dangerous, and on February 13 of the thirteenth year of Hongxing in the Ming Dynasty, he successfully arrived in Uraga Town. Two days later, he arrived in Edo with the ambassador to Japan, Zheng Hongkui, and met Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the elder of the shogunate, in the residence of the Mito domain.

"What? Is His Majesty the Emperor really a descendant of Xu Fu? Tokugawa Mitsukuni frowned, "And Xu Fu was also named the King of Shenwu by the First Emperor?" So speaking of which...... The legendary thing is completely true! ”

"That's right, it's true!" Zheng Jiangong said, "The evidence is conclusive...... Wu Sangui dug up the tomb of the first emperor and obtained from it the events of Xu Fu's expedition to the Japanese and his request for the title of king. ”

"Elder," Zheng Hongkui looked at Tokugawa Mitsukuni, "Your ancestor is from Emperor Qinghe, and he is also a descendant of Xu Fu!" I wonder if the elders in the family have mentioned the elixir of life? ”

The elixir of life? Tokugawa Mitsukuni was really a little crying and laughing, and quickly shook his head: "No, no...... If there is, the Divine Monarch will definitely take it! ”

"yes!" Zheng Hongkui nodded lightly, "If there really is...... Isn't the Divine Monarch alive until now? ”

"Was there royalty that day?" Zheng Jiangong asked.

"Heavenly Royal...... I don't know about this! Tokugawa Mitsukuni thought for a moment, and said with a positive color, "The appearance of Xu Fu Shozhang is a big deal, and we must find out whether the ancestor of His Majesty the Emperor is Xu Fu or Amaterasu?" ”

It's a big deal!

If the emperor's ancestor was Xu Fu, then there would be no godhead......

If the emperor's ancestor is Amaterasu...... So Amaterasu should have an elixir, right? Hurry up and dedicate it to the great tomorrow!

Therefore, Tokugawa Mitsukuni, the elder of the Tokugawa shogunate, was ready to lead 20,000 troops, and he personally asked His Majesty the Emperor about this matter at the command of the general's family.

The army of Guangguo had not yet left Edo, and his recital had already been sent to the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, which could scare Emperor Gosai stupidly.

"Your Majesty, is the Shenwu Emperor Xu Fu or not? If not, the imperial court should issue an order to clarify as soon as possible to set the record straight! ”

"yes, you have to get it straight...... Because there have always been rumors among the people that it is Emperor Shenwu who is Xu Fu. ”

The emperor who was sitting upright behind the bamboo curtain in the Purple Hall of the Imperial Palace was Sekihaku, Nijo Kohei, and the left minister, Takaji Bosuke.

These two Fujiwara Go-Tsinghua ministers are the most powerful figures in the Japanese court today - in fact, there is no power, the power is in the shogunate, and they can play an important role in the "official game" of the imperial court, and receive some gifts by the way.

Emperor Gonishi realized the seriousness of the problem as soon as he received the shogunate's recital, so he immediately summoned the two to the palace. But listening to the tone of these two, they are not in a hurry at all...... They thought it was a legend!