Every time he saw this, Hamid sighed, he really couldn't figure out why the first Maradi monarch was willing to abandon the very "lucrative" profession of pirates, and Baba went ashore to be the monarch of a small princely state.

It's not worth it!

Just as Hamid's mind was full of reverie, Sitarama's old voice sounded: "Hamid, I know what you are thinking, are you thinking about the so-called glory of your ancestors?" ”

Hamid's face suddenly sneered, his father really knows his own family.

Looking at the somewhat embarrassed expression on his son's face, Sitarama couldn't help but sigh in her heart.

I knew that I should have burned that diary, so that I would keep it until today, and come out to harm my eldest son.

Sitarama brushed aside the distracting thoughts in her heart, and sneered on her face: "Hamid, you have to remember that even the most arrogant and arrogant pirates will never be on the stage, this is the consensus of the entire Nanyang countries!" ”

"They may be afraid of pirates, but they will always look down on pirates in their hearts, otherwise, the current countries of the South Seas would have become pirate countries a long time ago, but unfortunately this scene did not appear, this is the proof!"

Looking at the disapproving expression on the eldest son's face, Sitarama could only sigh weakly......

He made his final admonition: "Hamid, you must cherish Maradi and your status as the heir of Maradi, Maradi will always be much more precious than a gang of pirates, you must remember this!" ”

Hamid meekly lowered his head: "Yes, respected father, Hamid will keep your teachings firmly in his heart like carving them on a stone wall!" ”

Sitarama shook her head, not bothering to tell the truth from the falsehood.

began to ask about the business he was concerned about every day now: "Is that Daming's fleet still running around at sea?" ”

Speaking of business, Hamid immediately focused: "Yes, they are still there!" ”

Since the first day of the Ming fleet's arrival in the Maradi Seas, Sitarama has been restless.

Every day, he had Hamid personally send spies to find out the movements of the fleet, and then Hamid would personally report the results of the expedition to him.

But this fleet has been wandering around the sea for more than ten days, and it has not gone ashore or left, what is it going to do?

At this moment, hearing Hamid's warning, the fleet was still circling, and Sitarama's face couldn't help but show a look of worry.

The unknown is the most frightening!

Sitarama couldn't help it, and discussed it with the culprit who caused this incident, that is, his eldest son Hamid: "Hamid, what do you think the Ming fleet wants to do?" Could it be that he came to ask the teacher about sin? ”

Not again!

Hamid felt powerless, and his father had to ask him about this question almost every day.

Before, he was going to the lake every time, but today he decided not to go to the lake again, but to analyze it for him.

Hamid froze and said in a deep voice: "No way! ”

"If they really came to ask for sin, then they would have landed a long time ago, so why did they stay at sea for so many days?"

"So I think it's very likely that they're coming with an escort!"

Sitarama was stunned: "Escort coming?" ”

Hamid nodded firmly: "Yes, there are obviously merchant ships in this fleet, and the merchant ships of Daming have been plundered by us twice in a row here before, and the merchants who want to come to Daming are also afraid, so they hired such a large fleet to escort them!" ”

"They have been going back and forth on the sea for the past few days, most likely to guard against our shark teeth, for fear of being plundered by us again, if they are sure that they are safe, they want to come, and the merchant ships in this team will go ashore to trade!"

I have to say that what Hamid said is really like that, at least it is correct from the previous situation.

Sitarama also nodded involuntarily, and then looked at Hamid sternly: "I don't want to pursue the previous matter, but I want you to convey an order to Sharktooth, that is, no matter what, this time the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty, they can't do it again!" ”

Hamid also said solemnly: "Follow your will, my father! ”

This time Hamid was telling the truth, after all, the fleet of the "escort" this time also scared him!

Hamid is not stupid, at this time, if there are any extraneous branches, then he is really looking for death!

……

fleet.

Zhou Buxin and Zhang Dingbian couldn't sit still.

After wandering at sea for more than ten days, Zhang Dingbian finally couldn't bear it anymore.

On this day, Zhang Dingbian invited Zhou Buxin to his cockpit, and said with a sad face: "Mr. Zhou, it's not a way for us to keep wandering like this, it's been more than ten days, and I haven't even seen a pirate hair, when will it take to spend so much?" ”

Zhou Buxin also frowned: "You can't keep swaying like this, it's too delaying things, and if you don't fight for a long time, the morale of the soldiers will be low, and the whole person will be lazy......

Zhang Dingbian interrupted him and said: "Mr. Zhou, I know what you said, but it's not a way to go on like this, I've thought about it, let's let the troops prepare for battle, we have to end the voyage as soon as possible, and then return to land." ”

Although the Ming fleet was strong, life at sea was very difficult, and soldiers and sailors could not always drift on the sea.

Zhou Buxin pondered for a moment, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "I thought of it, since we can't meet pirates on the sea, then let's just go to the pirate's den!" ”

Zhang Dingbian was stunned: "Old nest? ”

"yes!" Zhou Buxin nodded: "These pirates are all natives of the local Maradi and other city-states, and if you can't find them at sea, then they must be hidden on land, and we will go ashore to attack these Maradi natives and persecute them."

Zhang Dingbian immediately ordered the sailors on the fleet to assemble, and issued an order for the entire fleet to prepare for landing.

Immediately, Zhang Dingbian said to Zhou Buxin: "Mr. Zhou, your suggestion is very good, how can we find the pirate's den?" ”

Zhou Buxin said with a smile: "We can go straight to Huanglong." ”

"Straight to the Yellow Dragon?" Zhang Dingbian was stunned for a moment, a little surprised: "Mr. Zhou, what are you talking about......"

Zhou Buxin smiled slightly: "It's not a secret, when Ying Tianfu left, I went to say goodbye to His Royal Highness the British King, and His Royal Highness gave me a map of Tianzhu, which happened to have a topographical map of the Maradi people here. ”

The main source of local pirates is the Maradi region of Asan.

Zhou Buxin felt that as long as he defeated the local Maradia trian, he could solve the scourge of pirates once and for all.

There's no need to look for pirate tracks anymore.

Zhang Dingbian suddenly realized: "I see, Mr. Zhou is smart, I will notify all the ships and get ready." ”

Zhou Buxin nodded.

Zhang Dingbian immediately called someone to convey the news.

The night was starry and the sea breeze was gentle.

On the battleships one by one, each captain was in full swing to arrange, and the soldiers were also ready to go ashore for a bloody battle.

In the 14th century, there were hundreds of city-states in southern India, large and small, and there was no coordinated defense between the various city-states, and after the Ming army appeared on the sea, the neighboring city-states would not warn and help each other at all.

Therefore, the Ming army led by Zhang Dingbian soon arrived at the beach outside Maradi and landed.

The soldiers of the local Maradi city-state did not realize that this was an attack, and thought that the Eastern merchant fleet had come to do business, and dozens of Indian Maradi people swaggered in front of the Ming army, arrogantly announcing that they would inspect the ship's cargo.

When Zhang Dingbian saw this, he was immediately laughed at by these stupid Ah San.

"Come on, arrest them all!"

Zhang Dingbian gave an order, and immediately more than 20 Ming soldiers surrounded him and took down all of them.

All of them were so frightened that they knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.

Through an interpreter in the army, Zhang Dingbian soon learned about the military deployment of the Maradis in the area.

The Maradis had a nearby city called the city of Mahama, and the local lord was called Babur.

"How many soldiers and horses are there in Mahama?" Zhang Dingbian asked the captive.

"Not more than 20,000 people!" The captive said.

When Zhang Dingbian heard this, he was immediately surprised.

The total strength of the Ming army was only 20,000 people, and in addition to the people who stayed behind to guard the ships, the troops that Zhang Dingbian brought ashore this time were only 3,000 people.

A city guarded by 20,000 people is really not so easy to attack.

"Ask me again, are there any other Maradi armies around?" Zhang Dingbian asked again.

Subsequently, Zhang Dingbian and Zhou Buxin learned that in addition to the Asan army in Mahama City, there were several other cities, all of which were about the same strength.

All the forces of the entire Maradi people combined, almost more than 100,000 people!

"More than 100,000 people?" Zhang Dingbian was immediately surprised.

Zhou Buxin on the side was also full of incredulity.

"The Maradi people on the map are not very large!" Zhou Buxin said.

According to their experience of sailing all the way, all the regions in the entire Nanyang area, according to the standards of the Central Plains, are basically at the level of vast land and sparsely populated.

Nowadays, the territory of the Maradi people is not large, and they have so many troops.

That means that the local population density is very large, almost on par with the Ming Dynasty.

"Looks like a big fat sheep!" Zhang Dingbian said with a smile.

"The fat sheep is too big, and it's a little hard to mouth!" Zhou Buxin said.

Later, they interrogated the captives and laid out everything.

The local pirates, sure enough, were played by these Maradis.

These Maradi people usually fish and farm, and when a merchant ship appears, they go to rob and act as pirates.

If they encounter a merchant fleet that cannot be defeated, they become friendly merchants and trade with the arriving fleet.

Anyway, it's a bunch of guys who see the wind and rudder.

"This Maradi is really strong!" Zhang Dingbian said.

The task given to him by Zhu Han was to exterminate the pirates, and as for how to exterminate the pirates, Zhu Han didn't care at all.

If you find pirates at sea, kill them all.

If you go ashore and subdue all the potential pirates, just these Maradis, it's not impossible.

However, now the Maradi people have too many troops, which are already dozens of times the strength of the Ming land.

Zhang Dingbian didn't want to take the risk, so he discussed it with Zhou Buxin, a staff officer of the military division, again.

Zhou Buxin thought about it for a while, and also felt that there were too many enemies, so it was better not to take too many risks.

"General, we might as well lure the snake out of the hole and hide all the warships, leaving only those five merchant ships."

"Oh, by the way, the five merchant ships have to be removed too!"

Zhang Dingbian didn't react for a while, and his eyes widened: "Mr. Zhang, what does this mean?" Those warships and gunboats are for the purpose of promoting national prestige and martial arts in these South Sea countries, and they cannot be easily withdrawn. ”

Zhou Bu smiled bitterly and said: "Now, this is bad on these warships and gunboats that promote national prestige and martial arts." ”

"General Zhang, just imagine, I am cruising on the sea with such a momentum, and the pirates are naturally secretly probing, seeing that we are so powerful, I am afraid that it will be too late to run, so how dare I show up?"

"Therefore, my plan is to show weakness."

"In the past few days, I have sent people to explore around in small boats, there are many uninhabited ports on wild islands in this sea area, we can first find a port on an uninhabited island with all the armed warships and hide them temporarily, leaving only those five merchant ships."

】

"Then, I drove the merchant ship straight to the port of Maradi, directly under the banner of my Daming, and showed my identity to meet the lord of Namadira, and then took out the high-quality goods plus gold, jewelry, and jade, or traded with the local natives, or gave it to the monarch of Maradi as a gift."

Speaking of this, Zhang Dingbian, who was still a little confused, immediately became excited again: "The pirates are greedy and ignorant, and they will definitely not be able to bear it, so we will set up an ambush first and take them by surprise!" ”

"At that time, these pirates will be charged with being instructed by the Maradi monarch to rob the ship of the Great Tomorrow's Envoy."

The more Zhang Dingbian spoke, the more excited he became, and he didn't notice Zhou Buxin's stunned expression at all.

"At that time, we will be able to justifiably destroy the royal family of this Madila princely state, and then support a puppet close to the Ming Dynasty, so that our Ming Dynasty can garrison here haha, from now on, my Ming merchant ships will no longer have to worry about it!"

Zhang Dingbian made a summary with satisfaction, and did not forget to ask Zhou Buxin for verification: "Mr. Zhou, that's what you mean!" ”

"That's what I meant!" Zhou Buxin said weakly.

I have to say that this Zhang Dingbian really dares to think and dare to do, lawless!

This kind of poisonous plan to frame and destroy the family and the country will come as soon as he opens his mouth, without blinking his eyes, Zhou Buxin's original intention is to lure this pirate out and finish the errand.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Dingbian directly followed his train of thought and gave a big move!

But I have to say that Zhang Dingbian's trick can be done in one step more than his strategy.

If this thing really happens, it can be used on several other big countries in the South Seas, anyway, the strength of the countries of the South Seas is like this, with the strength of the Ming fleet, the feasibility of destroying several big countries in the South Seas is still very high.

Zhou Buxin and Zhang Dingbian had already made a decision, and immediately passed on the military order, ordering ten double-deck gun battleships, five Daming Galen ships, and ten mixed-sail flying clippers to turn around one after another and head towards the distant islands, looking as if they had sailed away from this sea area.