Facing Zheng Chenggong's questioning, Shi Fu first cupped his hands and then answered respectfully: "Yesterday, two Ming armies had a naval battle. Shi Lang and I decided to split our forces."
"During the reconnaissance, I encountered Jian Nu disguised as Ming troops. I fought a battle with them and both sides suffered casualties."
Why?
After hearing Shi Fu's answer, Zheng Chenggong scratched the back of his head.
He always felt something was wrong.
But I can't tell what's wrong.
It's just awkward!
Looking at Zheng Chenggong with a confused look on his face, Shi Fu breathed a sigh of relief.
Zheng Chenggong indeed fell into the trap of his thinking.
His idea is to state the facts and then only say half of the words.
The less information contained in the words, the smaller the chance of Zheng Chenggong finding a flaw.
Yesterday, two real and fake Ming armies fought on the sea.
Zheng Chenggong was the real Ming army, and Shang Kexi was the fake Ming army.
Shi Lang told Zheng Chenggong that they didn't know who was real and who was fake, so they decided to divide their troops to verify the authenticity.
Actually.
The purpose of their division of troops was not to find out the real and fake Ming army, but to intercept Zheng Chenggong from the front and back and attack the Ming merchant ships.
Shi Fu didn't know what Shi Lang said to Zheng Chenggong.
So his first sentence was about a naval battle between two Ming armies yesterday.
This is a fact, and Zheng Chenggong could not find any fault with it.
The second sentence says that he and Shi Lang decided to divide their troops (to intercept Zheng Chenggong).
Since only half of the sentence was said, Zheng Chenggong would subconsciously use what Shi Lang said to fill in the second half of the sentence.
Shi Fu's third sentence was that he encountered Jiannu troops disguised as Ming troops during his reconnaissance, and fought a battle with them, resulting in casualties on both sides.
This statement is also true, and Zheng Chenggong still couldn't find any fault with it.
So after hearing Shi Fu's answer, Zheng Chenggong completely lost his temper.
However, he still had some doubts, so he pretended to be concerned and asked, "You just said that you fought a battle with the Jiannu?"
"yes."
"How many enemies have our army killed? What are our own casualties?"
"We burned one enemy ship, sank one, and killed about thirty enemies! Only one of our patrol boats was sunk, and less than ten people were killed!" Shi Fu replied.
"Okay, General Shi Fu, take a good rest. I will go to comfort the officers and soldiers who participated in the battle!" Zheng Chenggong forced Shi Fu to stay on his boat, and he took a small boat to Shi Fu's boat.
Shi Fu was not at all panicked.
Why did he go to war with the Jiannu?
In fact, he didn't want to fight. After all, the two sides had business dealings and were partners!
But the reality simply does not allow this.
Today, we suddenly encountered the Jiannu on the sea.
If I run away without fighting, the news will get out and cause a lot of trouble.
Ordinary low-level soldiers did not know that the Zheng family had business dealings with the Jiannu, and Zheng Zhilong would not let them know.
They only know that they are the Ming Dynasty’s official army and the Jian Nu are their mortal enemies!
If we really retreat without fighting, the news will quickly spread throughout Quanzhou, Fujian, and even the entire Ming Dynasty after returning to Quanzhou Prefecture.
The impact can be imagined!
Keep it secret for the soldiers?
joke!
Thirty or fifty taels of silver can buy a soldier's life. If they don't care about death, how could they care about a secret?
For this reason, Shi Fu had no choice but to order an attack and turn the fake play into reality!
Zheng Chenggong came to Shi Fu's boat and asked more than 20 people, and got the same answer.
At this point, he finally put aside his doubts.
After a brief rest, Shi Fu and Shi Lang adjusted their course and returned to Quanzhou Prefecture in Fujian.
Zheng Chenggong led his fleet eastward to the Japanese port of Nagasaki.
After a long and boring voyage, the fleet arrived at its destination.
As soon as they got off the ship, they were surrounded by Japanese businessmen from Nagasaki Port.
The next thing is much simpler.
There were no warships, no artillery, and no life-and-death struggles.
There is only the purest competition between businessmen.
Buyers want to buy low.
Sellers want to sell high.
The two sides engaged in negotiations over price that were more boring than sailing.
Merchants in the Ming Dynasty were buying goods while selling them.
At that time, Japan could only export limited things. Apart from sulfur and sappanwood, the rest were basically metal minerals such as raw copper.
Late November.
The Ming caravan sold all its goods and exchanged them for a large amount of goods and silver.
The fleet left the Port of Nagasaki in Japan and headed for the Port of Shanghai in the Ming Dynasty.
After more than a month of sailing, the fleet finally arrived at the port on the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month.
When the news spread, the whole Jiangnan area was shocked.
Hangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang.
"The caravan organized by the imperial court has returned from Japan!" A man dressed as a small businessman shouted loudly in a teahouse in the early morning.
"Just come back, it has nothing to do with you, why are you so excited?" The businessmen drinking tea around him sneered.
"Of course I'm excited!" The small businessman looked yearning. "I heard that those merchant ships were full of silver! One laborer was accidentally crushed to death by the silver while moving it."
"Is it true?" Although the other businessmen still didn't believe it, their curiosity was aroused.
"It's true, this matter has been spread a long time ago!"
"Hiss..." A merchant gasped, "It's full of silver... Is it so profitable to do business overseas?"
"That's nonsense! If there's no money to be made, who would be willing to risk their life going out to sea?" said another businessman.
The merchants nodded in agreement.
There was a gleam of greed in all of their eyes, as if they saw countless gold, silver and treasures beckoning to them.
"How about... let's try it too?" someone suggested.
"Why give it a try? Not only are there strong winds and waves on the sea, but there are also pirates! You'll die if you're not careful!" A rational businessman warned loudly.
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