Chapter 136 Empty Ship
Wei Yunxiang died, but the matter was not over yet, because there were still three culprits - the Qingxu followers.
The three knew that severe torture was waiting for them, but they didn't even have the chance to commit suicide.
The soldiers immediately removed their jaws to prevent them from biting their tongues to commit suicide, and then they were tied up and sent to the imperial prison.
*
In the imperial prison, red flames were dancing, and from time to time one or two horrifying screams were heard.
Because there has been no sunlight for many years, this place is filled with a foul stench mixed with rotting blood and excrement, which makes people feel nauseous.
The man who pretended to be a peddler had been beaten to a pulp, but he still gritted his teeth and refused to reveal anything about the Qingxu Sect.
The person in charge of the execution was an elderly jailer named Tao Laoqi. He had worked in the imperial prison for more than 30 years. What kind of tough guys had he not seen?
Once the punishments here are used, even the hardest bones will become soft.
As he burned charcoal, he said, "Young man, listen to my advice and say what you need to say. You will be freed sooner and suffer less."
The fake peddler closed his eyes and snorted softly from the tip of his nose.
Lao Tao shook his head, picked up the red-hot tongs and put them to his chest.
"ah!!!"
The shrill screams rang out again, and the two Japanese imprisoned next door trembled with fear.
Liao Yu, the Minister of the Honglu Temple, who was sitting opposite, felt his scalp tingling after hearing this. He spoke in fluent Japanese, "You two, why don't you say anything?"
The man was the first to react. He said a lot of gibberish, meaning: If we tell you everything we know, can you let us go back?
Liao Yu smiled and said, "Of course." That's not possible.
The man choked up and said, "You must keep your word and never lie to me!"
"I won't lie to you." No way.
The two Japanese could not bear the pressure and told everything they knew.
Qingxu Sect is a religion in Japan that existed as early as the previous dynasty. However, there was no magical medicine at that time, so there were very few believers in the Central Plains and its development was very slow.
Later, a leader of the Qingxu Sect accidentally discovered opium in Yunnan.
Long-term consumption of poppy juice can make people addicted, so the leader collected the juice together, refined it into the first batch of "magic medicine" and presented it to Yang Yuanji, who was the King of Yunnan at the time.
After Yang Yuanji learned about the effect of the magic medicine, he immediately sent people to plant large areas of poppies in Yunnan.
After that, they colluded with the Japanese. The locals were responsible for collecting poppy juice, which the Japanese took back for refining and then sold to Daqi to make a lot of money.
Later, when the Sheng Dynasty fell, Yang Yuanji was forced to surrender to the Japanese. The poppy fields in Yunnan were completely controlled by the Japanese. They refined a large number of magical drugs and sent them to all parts of the country, part of which was used to recruit people and part of which was used to make money.
After the man finished speaking, the woman added a few more words. It was obvious that the two of them held high positions in the Qingxu Sect and knew the details. They were probably frightened by the screams from next door and did not dare to hide anything, for fear that they would also suffer a punishment worse than death.
After they told Liao Yu the strongholds in Shangjing, Jizhou, Zhengzhou, Yangzhou, Suzhou and Hangzhou, as well as the location of the poppy garden, they looked at Liao Yu expectantly.
Liao Yu wrote furiously, translating the confessions of the two men into Chinese and wrote them on paper. After he finished writing and blew dry the ink, he smiled at the two men and said, "Daqi is a hospitable city. You two have come from afar, so you might as well stay here for a few more days." After that, he stood up and left.
"fraud!"
"You shameless villain!"
Liao Yu's face grew colder as he walked. They had refined that "magic medicine" and caused countless deaths and ruined their families. These Japanese deserved to die a thousand times!
The day after the confession was submitted, Song Yuzhu issued an order to send people to Yunnan to arrest the Japanese and destroy the poppy garden.
Wei Hao, who was still in grief over the loss of his son, heard the news and volunteered to go to Yunnan.
Song Yuzhu knew that he was holding back a lot of anger in his heart, and if he didn't let it out, he would definitely get sick. It just so happened that these Japanese could help him vent his anger, so he asked Zheng Da'an to mobilize 3,000 soldiers and horses and choose a day to go to Yunnan.
In less than a month, the imperial court completely eradicated the Qingxu Sect that was hiding among the people.
When Wei Hao led his troops to Yunnan, he was even more crazy, eradicating all the local poppy gardens and killing all the Japanese without leaving a single one alive. It is said that his methods were extremely cruel, and the locals were so scared that they dared not mention the Qingxu Sect anymore.
Opium was a disaster for the country. In order to prevent such incidents from happening again, Song Yuzhu promulgated a law that anyone who privately planted more than ten poppy plants would be exiled a thousand miles away, and those who planted more than a hundred plants would be hanged.
That’s not all. Song Yuzhu is planning to send the navy to Japan.
In mid-August, the remaining navy of Binzhou set sail again, this time led by Yang Ping, who led 28 warships towards Japan.
It would be unreasonable not to bring some "specialties" to express greetings after traveling such a long distance.
Each warship was equipped with a cannon and a cabin full of cannonballs. Since Japan liked Daqi, let them feel Daqi's "warm hospitality".
They have to pay a price for their ambitions.
*
The salty sea breeze made his clothes rustle. Zhao Xiao stood on the deck, holding a telescope and looking at the green in the distance.
Affected by the ocean currents, the return voyage was much faster than the return voyage, and it took only six months to reach the Strait of Malacca.
"Uncle Zhao, are you looking at the sea again?" A little blond and blue-eyed girl pulled his clothes and asked in broken Chinese.
"No, we're almost at the shore." Zhao Xiao handed her the telescope in his hand, then carried her to a high place to look.
"Wow! I see trees! So many trees!" The girl was Charles' daughter Gina.
Six months ago, Charles decided to take his daughter on board the Hope and travel to an ancient Eastern country thousands of miles away to find a cure for the disease.
Making this decision means that he will withdraw from the competition for Antontepu Port, and the huge family business left behind will be divided between the Russell and Evans families.
Of course, Charles would never let those two families get his property so easily.
Before leaving, he cashed in all the family property that could be liquidated, left the non-liquidable part to his subordinates, and gave part to an up-and-coming family in Anduntep Port.
With all this funding, I believe this family will be able to rise quickly and continue to restrain them to prevent them from becoming the only dominant family.
Charles did this because he could no longer delay his lung disease. He heard from Song Yutang that tuberculosis was contagious, and he didn't want his daughter to be like him.
"Gina, come here!" Charles walked out of the cabin with a cloth covering his pale face. This was the method taught to him by the doctor on the ship to prevent the spread of tuberculosis to others.
"Dad, come and see!" Gina waved her hands excitedly. After sailing on the sea for several months, she almost forgot what the land looked like.
Charles walked over helplessly and said, "I'm sorry to trouble you, General Zhao."
In the past few months, he has often followed Song Yutang to learn Chinese, and now he has no problem with simple communication.
"Nothing, I have a little sister at home who is about the same age as Gina."
Zhao Xiao thought of Song Yutong. She was only five years old when he left, and she often pestered him to go riding a horse.
Two years have passed in a flash, and I don't know if that girl has forgotten me.
Charles took the telescope from his daughter and looked out, and sure enough, he saw a dense jungle.
"Is the Great Qi Kingdom just ahead?"
"I guess so." That was Johor State, the territory that Zhao Xiao had designated himself and had not yet reported to the imperial court.
It was estimated that they would reach the border of Johor in another four hours.
The Hope will stay here for a few days to transport the rubber collected by the locals back to Daqi.
Charles was very curious about the Great Qi Kingdom they mentioned. He held up a telescope and kept looking around. Suddenly, he saw a ship docked on the shore.
The captain's cabin was a bit weird, with a small black tube mounted right in front of the deck.
"General Zhao, is that your country's ship?"
Zhao Xiao was stunned. When they arrived in Johor last year, they didn't see any ships. The local indigenous people were still living in an era of slash-and-burn agriculture.
He took the telescope and looked towards the shore, and sure enough he saw a ship parked there.
Although the shape of the ship cannot be seen clearly from a distance, the red flag hanging on the bow is the national flag of Daqi!
Zhao Xiao's heartbeat quickened. He had no idea how Da Qi knew about Johor. But after a year and six months, when he saw the red again, he was choked up and couldn't speak.
After a long while, Zhao Xiao suppressed his excitement and shouted, "Come out, boys! We are almost home!"
Ge Zhongshun was the first one to run over. This kid was missing home so much that he was going crazy.
When he was in the army in the past, although he followed the army around and did not go home for most of the year, he knew in his heart that he was in Daqi and he could have the opportunity to go back at any time.
Going out to sea is a completely different experience. They are thousands of miles away from home and cannot go back even if they want to. Not to mention that the weather at sea changes rapidly and a storm may take their lives.
"General, are we home? We're home so soon?!" Ge Zhongshun shouted in disbelief.
Zhao Xiao threw the telescope to him: "See for yourself if that is the flag of Daqi."
Ge Zhongshun lay on the side of the boat and looked towards the shore: "Yes! Yes!" He excitedly patted the side of the boat and cried and laughed.
"Let me see, let me see!" Chen Jing lost his usual composure and snatched the telescope from Ge Zhongshun and looked around.
"I haven't finished watching it yet!" Ge Zhongshun stretched out his hand to grab it, and other soldiers gathered around. Everyone was eagerly waiting to watch, but there were so many people that they couldn't finish watching it until dark.
Zhao Xiao gave an order directly: "Line up, look one by one, each person looks at ten numbers!"
"Yes, sir!"
Chen Jing reluctantly handed the telescope to the soldier behind him. Although it was just a flag, it made everyone cry with excitement.
By the time the last person had finished looking, the Hope was less than five nautical miles away from the ship.
The sky gradually darkened, and the sea water turned into an inky deep blue along with the sky.
The telescope returned to Zhao Xiao's hands and he continued to look at the ship.
Song Yutang came over and said, "General, it's time to eat."
"I'm not hungry, you guys eat first."
Song Yutang leaned against the side of the boat and smiled, "I didn't expect that we would reach Johor so soon. It looks like we should be able to get home by the end of the year."
"yes."
"It's been almost two years. My eldest child should have started to learn. When I left, my second child was still in his cradle. He should be able to walk now. I wonder if they still remember me as their dad."
Zhao Xiao: "I don't remember it until I got beaten up."
"Oh, how can I bear to hit you? I haven't seen you for two years and I'm almost missing you..."
"Shh!" Zhao Xiao suddenly interrupted him.
Song Yutang asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"
"Something's wrong!" There has been no one on the ship since they discovered it, and after such a long time, no one has come back.
Where did all the people on the ship go?
(End of this chapter)
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