Chapter 777: The End in the Firelight

Therefore, Thanh Hoa Province is the western capital of Annam.

After the Kingdom of Annam became the political secretary of the Ming Dynasty, the palace of the Western Capital was demolished on all four walls. After the overstepping building was demolished, the remaining buildings were reused on the spot, which became the later Thanh Hoa Prefecture. However, now that Chen Tianbao and others have re-entered the Qinghua Mansion, it has been renamed the Western Capital, and it is called Qinghua Chengzheng, and this mansion has been upgraded to a royal palace again.

Since the incident, Chen Tianbao has played the banner of the Annan Chen clan, so after luring the army of Rong Changbo Chen Zhi to set up an ambush and annihilate it in depth, he set his sights on Qinghua Mansion under the advice of his courtiers, and finally captured this place by both inside and outside. This is where the western capital of the old Annan is located, and it is closer to the south than the eastern capital of Jiaozhou, and it happens to be by the sea, which is not only conducive to his orthodox status, but also can retreat by sea at any time.

Although there was no time to renovate the palace during the war, Chen Tianbao still sent his subordinates to loot many Ming people who were doing business here in Thanh Hoa Mansion, and used the treasures and ornaments of various families to decorate here. Fortunately, he also listened to the minister's advice and distributed a lot of treasures to the local friends, and he made a lot of demagogic efforts, so he finally won over a lot of soldiers and civilians, and it was also a good weather.

Now, the three main halls of this government have become the main halls for him to receive his subordinates. The plaque originally inscribed with the piano hall had long been taken off by him and burned as rotten wood, and was replaced by the four characters of Tsinghua Chengzheng written by him himself. Due to the difference between the Hu Dynasty, which flaunted and admired the Chinese characters, and in order to encompass those subordinates who took Chinese characters and Confucianism as the orthodoxy, he claimed that after the Wang Uprising, he immediately resumed the orthodoxy of Chinese characters, and he was also proud of his beautiful Chinese characters and proficient Chinese.

As a result, there is a strong Chinese style in this so-called main hall. In addition to the hanging plaque, there is a bronze treasure with dragon patterns on all sides burned with ambergris incense on the public case below, and on the wall on the side are two ink landscapes collected from a wealthy family, but they are the brushwork of the Song people. On a carved lacquer of a begonia in the corner of the wall, there is a azure Ru kiln carved gooseneck bottle. Even the chairs and stools are painted red and gold, with a magnificent atmosphere.

It's just that Chen Tianbao, who is in the main hall right now, is furious. He had just learned the news that Chen Hua treacherously led the naval army to join Liu Sheng and broke his own 30,000 troops and horses in the river, although he was so angry that he almost vomited blood, he still hurriedly arranged for the ship to prepare to escape. However, just when he was busy emptying the military rations stored in the Qinghua Mansion and the looted treasures, some courtiers came to see him, but they bitterly advised him to fight to the death with the Ming army here, and not to retreat easily, so as not to make the people of Zhancheng look down on him.

Facing a few old men who were struggling to persuade each other, Chen Tianbao roared angrily: "You said that Chen Hua was reliable!" If it weren't for your oath and saying that Chen Hua had already betrayed the meaning of self-reliance, this trip would not only bring many soldiers and horses, but also repelled the Ming army by the way. If you want to fight to the death, you can, let the person sent by Champa command, doesn't he want military power, and give it all to him! ”

Chen Tianbao is known as Chen Tianping's younger brother, but several people here understand how many layers of younger brother this is, and when they heard this, several old ministers of the Chen family who were dissatisfied with the annexation of Annan by the Ming army couldn't help but burst into tears. What is Champong's intention to give them weapons, food, grass and other subsidies in the future, everyone understands, only thinking about expelling the Ming people, and then then suppressing the city of Zhancheng, but who knows that Chen Tianbao's panic at the moment is actually preparing to give away the power to the Zhan people.

Annan and Champa are feuds that are not in the same place, and it is okay to use them to restore the country, but how can the Lord never be divided!

"Don't look dejected, I just said hurry up and take a boat to the sea, we still have a foundation in the south, this western capital Qinghua Mansion will be lost if it is lost, those soldiers and civilians can't take it away anyway, it's just right to give it to the occupant of the city." If the Ming army starts to kill, let's encourage more people to follow in the south! No matter how powerful the Ming army is, it will be difficult for it to really take root in Annam! It's hateful that Old Huang Fu is not dead, if he dies, those stupid people who expect him to implement benevolent government will be able to wake up! ”

Several old ministers looked at each other for a while, and had to admit that although Chen Tianbao was hasty in some things, he was extremely shrewd in some things. However, in order to gain momentum for Thanh Hoa Province, they painstakingly planned for two years; In order to move Chen Hua, they also invested a lot of money, and even exposed a few dark lines, just so that Chen Hua could continue to make meritorious contributions. This time back to the south can certainly count on the resources of the city, but the road after that is undoubtedly extremely difficult.

After a long time, an old minister said with difficulty: "Just follow the king's wishes...... The ministers retired first! ”

A minister who still wanted to advise was pulled and had to go out of the house with the crowd. When he arrived in the courtyard outside, he said angrily: "This west is a strong city, and it can be defended for at least a few months, and the Ming army can be dragged to death!" Moreover, when it is delayed until the beginning of spring next year, their army will naturally be in chaos! How much effort have we spent to take this place, if you want to go, you go with him, I am here in the west, and I don't want to live if I lose the west! ”

"Alas, there is an old saying that rejects wolves at the front door, tigers enter at the back door, Chen Hua's failure will make our situation extremely difficult! Zhanren and Annan are feuds, if it weren't for the restoration of the country, we wouldn't have been funded by their ordnance personnel, and it would not be easy to clean up the mess and deal with them after beating the Ming people...... However, the Western Capital will definitely be lost, don't lose your life here in vain, and when we return to the south, we can still gather momentum to start again! ”

The angry minister still didn't give up: "That's right, but there are so many people in the Western Capital, and if one of each household comes out, there will be thousands more, and when they can't hold each other, all men, women, and children will be sent up, that is, the Ming army will retake Qinghua Mansion, which is also a ruined city!" As long as the flames of war are ignited, I don't believe that such a small number of people in the Ming army can take care of it! ”

"Say no more! It's good to keep a little bit, don't forget, when the killing god led the troops here, how many people were killed before and after, and how many men and women were kidnapped and sent to the Central Plains? With this trick in our own Annanxi, do you want to see the whole country become scorched earth? Do you really not know or do you not know, these old Huang Fu implemented the school, how many people in Annan pay tribute to the country every year? These are all big clans in the township, and when they come back, they raise their arms and shout, how many people still believe in our orthodoxy? Don't say more, the mess here is left to the city collector, let's clean up and leave! ”

Although it has been detected that the Ming army is transporting grain by sea, and some people in the Xinchen Dynasty have also proposed to attack the grain ships by sea and cut off the supply of the Ming army, but the sea ships are not better than the flat-bottomed boats on the river, and the Xinchen Dynasty has only obtained ten military ships in two years, and the self-protection is barely enough to attack, so it is only ready to attack the western capital from the sea before, and now it is just ready to retreat. After handing over the military affairs of the Western Capital, Chen Tianbao took his cronies and ministers and accompanying soldiers on the ship one by one, and immediately ordered to set sail, but he didn't even have the slightest nostalgia.

It is his dream to be the king and hegemon, but if he loses his life, why is he still the king?

Zheng He also mentioned that this place would be used as a supply place for the entire treasure ship to sail, but because every time the entire territory was cleared, the army was divided into a division, and then there was turmoil, for the sake of safety, this suggestion was finally shelved. In Chen Tianbao's view, this is cheap, and his escape path is unimpeded.

Right now, he was sitting in a richly decorated cabin, lazily hugging a woman, and said with a smile: "It all shows how wise the emperor is, I don't think that's it, so many civil and military affairs have been used to hand over the address, and as a result, I raised my arms and shouted, how many people followed with all their hearts?" He sent people to the West one after another, but now we are still swaggering from the sea. When I got to the south, the sea was wide and the fish jumped, and the sky was high and the birds flew! ”

"King Shengming!"

As soon as this flattering compliment came out, an exclamation suddenly sounded outside, and then there was an incessant uproar. Chen Tianbao was suddenly annoyed, pushed the beauty aside casually, and asked sharply: "What's the matter, who is making a noise!" ”

At this time, one of the guards slammed open the door and said in a panic: "Oh no, my lord, there are many ships on the sea!" More than we have! There is a very conspicuous flag hanging on it, and it is likely to be a Ming person...... Akito's treasure ship! ”

Chen Tianbao was only angry at first, but at this moment, that anger had turned into great fear. He bounced out of his seat almost instantly, but probably because of a big wave, the hull of the ship tilted so violently that he stumbled and almost fell. However, he shook off the guard who wanted to step forward and stumbled out of the cabin. After a great deal of effort to get to the deck, he saw the big ships with high sails in the distance, and his face suddenly turned dead gray.

"How is it possible, didn't it be said before that their ship was still parked in Siam? If I knew this, it would be better to stick to the Western Capital......"

Hearing the muttering next to him, Chen Tianbao suddenly became angry, and glanced at him fiercely. It wasn't until he recognized the old man with gray temples that he turned his head in annoyance. In order to envelop these old ministers of the Chen family who supported him, he married all their daughters in one go, and now he can't be too faceless. Leaving behind the old fellow, he walked briskly to the bow of the ship, and shouted at the captain who had followed, "Whatever you do, get rid of those ships at once!" ”

As soon as he heard this request, the captain was immediately extremely embarrassed, and said to Chen Tianbao in a low voice: "My lord, the treasure ships of the Celestial Empire can hang up to twelve sails, and the few can also hang six or seven, which is faster than us, and it will definitely be blocked along the coastline." They may be able to avoid it if they go down the wind to the west, but they are more familiar with the route than we are......"

Chen Tianbao, who was bruised on his forehead, couldn't take care of so much at the moment, and shouted without thinking about it: "Don't be so long-winded, what I want is the result, not these explanations!" Whatever path you take, as long as you can get rid of them, otherwise if you catch up with the Mingren, you will all have to die with me! ”

Thinking of the fate of the rebels before, everyone on the ship suddenly shuddered, and the captain swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Immediately he stopped talking, and hastened to command the helmsman, and gathered all the sailors and the others. After a long time of hoisting the sails and turning the rudder, the oarsmen under them all exerted all their strength, and the big ship immediately accelerated. However, because their large ship was equipped with more sails and oarsmen than the others, it was not long before all the other ships were left behind.

At such a critical juncture, although the other people on the ship were a little worried, they could not protect themselves at this time, where could they still take care of their allies, and they only hoped that Mingren could chase slower. It was their eagerness that came into play, and although the tall treasure ships quickly caught up, the ships behind them distracted most of their attention, and only two ships caught up. Due to the increasing speed of the ship, several old people could not withstand the strong wind, and even though they were terrified, they still had to go into the cabin to take shelter.

However, the two ships behind were not slow to chase, but in less than half an hour, Chen Tianbao could already clearly count the nine big sails hanging on his head, not to mention the sharp-eyed captains and sailors. For a while, there was a lot of shouting on the deck, and Chen Tianbao was even more because the speed of the ship was too fast, and he could only stand well with the support of two guards. Seeing that the two ships were getting closer and closer, he couldn't help but pinch the palm of his left hand with his right hand, until the fire on the boat appeared on the other side, and his pupils immediately contracted suddenly.

It's the firearms of the Ming army again!

Because Zhu Di, the emperor of Yongle, took Zhang Yue's advice, rewarded the craftsmen who innovated the firearms, severely punished the craftsmen who made the firearms that were not qualified, and set a strict reward and punishment system, so today's big guns have a hundred steps longer than the previous firing range, reaching 400 steps, plus it is just tailwind, and the more than a dozen fires with the sound of the whirring wind are actually roaring towards the big ship, and it is amazing to see. Chen Tianbao instinctively closed his eyes, and it took a while before he opened them, and when he found that he was safe and sound, he suddenly went limp.

Compared with his relief, the helmsman on the ship became more and more nervous, the wind was strong on the sea, and it was difficult to guarantee the accuracy of the guns, but it was difficult to say when the distance was closer. Now they were far from the shoreline, and if the sails or the hull were to be caught in the slightest, the whole ship would be finished, and everyone would have to go out to sea to feed the fish. So, he could only use all his strength, but the result of going around in circles again and again was that he was chased closer and closer by the enemy.

As if to confirm that they were afraid of something, when the distance between the three ships was extremely close, the first two ships fired magic arrows again, and this time, one of the long arrows with fire shot through the main sail, and then the fire burned with the wind. In the overwhelming red firelight, although Chen Tianbao saw many people running back and forth to extinguish the fire, the strength of his whole body was drained all at once, and he actually fell down in front of him.