Chapter 1663 Execution

Captain Drake used his trump card, folding his hands over his chest, looking as if he was not afraid that you would not fall into his trap.

"Is it the Spanish Invincible Armada that is about to set out on an expedition to Luzon?" Zhao Hao said nonchalantly.

"This..." Drake's face turned pale, and he forced himself to calm down. He sneered and said, "You guessed it from what I said, right? But can you guess their exact departure time? How many warships, how many soldiers, who is the commander, and what is the battle plan?"

"You should know more than me." Zhao Hao said calmly, "I have been preparing for this war five years ago. If I still need you to collect intelligence, it would be a failure, right?"

"It won't hurt to confirm it, right?" Drake couldn't help but plead.

"Do you have any evidence to prove your intelligence?" Zhao Hao asked again in that infuriating tone.

"Yes!" Captain Drake, who was almost driven crazy, shouted without thinking, "There are Spanish prisoners on my ship!"

"You mean those two Spaniards named Mario and Hugo? They have already exchanged intelligence for their freedom." Zhao Hao picked up a folder from the table, opened it and read, "The king plans to form an invincible fleet with nine fleets, including the Pacific Fleet, the Atlantic Fleet, the Andalusian Fleet, the Guipuzcoa Fleet, and a total of 139 warships."

Captain Drake's face turned even paler. The other party really knew more details than he did. What frightened him even more was the other party's attitude of not giving him any chance at all.

"The fleet carried 10,000 Spanish soldiers and 15,000 New Spanish soldiers, equipped with the most advanced muskets. It set out after the typhoon season in 1779. After arriving in Cebu, it rested for a while and joined up with 3,000 local Filipino soldiers. It immediately launched combat operations, first retaking Manila as quickly as possible, then uniting with the Portuguese as much as possible, and recruiting 5,000 soldiers in Japan to ensure that the entire Ming Dynasty could be quickly occupied..."

After Zhao Hao finished reading, he looked at Drake and said, "Captain, do you have anything to add?"

"No." Drake shook his head dejectedly and couldn't help but question: "We British people are setting foot in Asia for the first time in history. We must not have offended you. Why are you making things so difficult for us?"

"You really haven't offended me..." Zhao Hao thought to himself, but your descendants have greatly offended our country. He still smiled reservedly and said, "But according to the confession of your crew, you have been engaged in slave trade for many years, burning, killing and looting, and you are a pirate who has done all kinds of evil!"

He pointed at himself, then at Drake and said, "Anyone with a sense of justice would not have a good impression of a villain like you, right?"

"We have a privateering license issued by Her Majesty the Queen! It authorizes us to drive armed civilian ships to attack, capture, and rob enemy merchant ships during war. We are legal!" Drake argued loudly.

"Maybe it's in line with the laws of your bandit country, but not in line with the laws of our Ming Dynasty!" Zhao Hao sneered, flicked the folder in his hand, and said in a disgusted tone: "And the massacre of women and children on Raslin Island, do you also think it's justified?"

Drake seemed to have been hit in the soft spot, and his arrogance immediately disappeared. He didn't expect that his subordinates would even confess the biggest stain of his life. Any further explanation seemed redundant and ridiculous.

"So, you admit it?" Zhao Hao asked coldly.

"Yes." Drake nodded.

In fact, he was only the commander of the fleet that brought the Earl of Essex's troops to the island, and he was not the mastermind of the massacre. But his pride made him unable to deny it.

"Okay, then there's no need to ask any more questions." Zhao Hao took the secretary's notes, glanced at them, and handed them to Cai Mingdao, saying, "Let him put his fingerprints on them."

Cai Ming stepped forward with the prepared ink pad, and the two guards held down Drake's arms at the same time without saying anything.

"What's this for?" Drake asked loudly.

"This is the conversation record from before." Macaron, who was acting as the translator, said, "You can't understand it anyway, so just put your fingerprints on it."

Drake was confused as they put ink on his hands and pressed them on the transcript.

Cai Ming asked the young master to take a look again. Zhao Hao glanced at it and waved his hand, saying, "Send them all to the court."

The guards escorted Drake, who was in self-doubt, away.

~~

The status of the Luzon Governor-General's Office in the Ming Dynasty was similar to that of the Xuanfu Division and Xuanwei Division, such as the Three Xuans and Six Weis.

That is to say, "Each generation owns the land, each generation governs the people, each generation commands the soldiers, each generation governs the place, and each generation receives the title." The corvée, taxes, and power over life and death in Luzon were all in the hands of the Governor-General's Office, and the court had no control over it. There was no need to report murder to the Ministry of Justice!

However, the Governor's Office also set up a trial court, and referred to the criminal laws promulgated by the group in New Port City to try those who violated the laws in the jurisdiction. Of course, the trial results must be reviewed and approved by the Council and sent to the Governor for signature before they can be implemented.

When Mr. Zhao was having lunch with Luzon Governor Xu Kezheng and a group of deliberative representatives, the president of the court, his student Cheng Qian, brought him a thick stack of trial books.

"So fast?" Zhao Hao put down the grilled pork chops in his hand, picked up a wet towel to wipe his hands, and took the stack of judgment books.

"Teacher, half a month ago, the criminal investigation department completed the investigation of this group of British pirates and handed them over to this court for trial." Cheng Qian hurriedly replied in a serious tone: "The only thing missing is the pirate leader Drake who has not yet confessed. Just now, he confessed to his pirate behavior in the face of his companions' confessions. This court believes that the facts of the case are clear and the evidence is sufficient, so the verdict can be pronounced in court."

"Is that so?" Zhao Hao nodded as if he had just heard about this, and quickly flipped through the judgment book. He smiled at everyone and said, "It just so happens that the Governor and the representatives of the Council are here, so why don't you all take the trouble to handle the case here on the spot."

"Of course we should." Xu Kezheng, Liu Xuesheng, Gao Erye, and Huang Song nodded hurriedly.

Zhao Hao had the table nearby cleared, and the members of the council passed the verdicts around for on-the-spot review. When they saw that all the verdicts were death sentences, several of the council representatives could not help but be shocked.

Pirates were rampant along the coast of Luzon, and the Governor's Office never showed leniency to captured pirates, but they were all sentenced to lifelong hard labor and sent to mine. This was the first time they had ever seen 102 pirates all sentenced to death for piracy and immediately executed.

But everyone was not stupid, and understood that this was the manifestation of Mr. Zhao's will, so no one wasted a word, and they all nodded in agreement. Then Huang Song, the rotating representative of this month, signed and stamped each verdict. Then, after asking the human skin seal, oh no, the Governor of Luzon Xu Kezheng to sign and seal, the 102 verdicts officially came into effect.

"Go ahead and do it." Zhao Hao nodded to his disciples.

"Yes!" Cheng Qian, holding the judgment book in his hand, responded in a deep voice.

An hour later, Captain Drake, who had had a hearty lunch, was taken to a small hill outside the sanatorium and tied to a pine tree.

Seeing the firing squad loading their rifles, he naturally knew what was waiting for him the next moment. He struggled angrily, roaring and questioning Zhao Hao, who was personally supervising the execution not far away, why he had to be killed? !

"Becauseur Francis Drake." Zhao Hao answered in Chinese English with a blank expression.

The captain stood there in shock until the gunshots rang out. He still couldn't understand why he had to die if he was Drake?

When the firing squad collected their guns, the supervising officer stepped forward to check and reported loudly: "All five bullets hit the heart. The prisoner is dead!"

"Collect the body and give it a proper burial." Zhao Hao took one last look at Drake lying in a pool of blood and waved his hand with a grim expression.

Captain Drake, the future legend among legends, was one of the people he admired most in this era.

In fact, on the way here, Zhao Hao had been struggling over whether or not to let him go.

But after meeting him in person and talking to him in person, Zhao Hao decided not to leave any trouble for the future. And he must be eliminated immediately to prevent this guy with great luck from escaping again.

However, it was not known whether it was because Drake's luck had been taken away by Lin Feng, or whether the idea of ​​luck was just nonsense. Without any surprise, the bullet pierced his heart, and the captain's adventure ended...

It feels really bad to end the legend with your own hands before it even begins.

Although Zhao Hao's heart was already cold enough, he still needed some time to digest this matter.

"Give me a cigarette." Zhao Hao said to Cai Ming.

Cai Ming quickly took out his cigarette box, popped a cigarette for the young man, and then took out his lighter to light it for him.

Zhao Hao smoked silently, watching with a serious expression as the executioners untied Drake from the pine tree, put him in a body bag and took him away for burial.

After collecting the bodies, the guards carefully shoveled soil to cover the bloodstains on the ground to avoid scaring the soldiers and civilians who came to recuperate.

Zhao Hao then put out his cigarette and turned to the pale-faced King Sebastian of Portugal beside him and said, "I'm sorry to have kept your Majesty waiting."

Sebastian was originally full of resentment and was ready to vent it out when he saw him.

However, the young king lost his temper at this moment. He was terrified and said, "No, it doesn't matter. I have plenty of time. It doesn't matter if I wait another year..."

"Your Majesty, don't worry. The man just executed was a pirate who committed many evil deeds. You are different. You are the noble king, uh, the former king." Zhao Hao bowed and invited the former king of Portugal to take a walk on the mountain path.

"Former king..." Sebastian paused when he heard this and said, "Has my uncle been crowned king?"

Zhao Hao nodded and asked Liang Qin to tell him the latest situation in Portugal. Unfortunately, Liang Qin didn't speak Portuguese very well, so he had to ask Macron to translate.

After hearing this, Sebastian calmed down because everything was within his expectations. He said to Zhao Hao in a deep voice: "The Pope will not agree to my uncle's release from his oath. As long as I don't go back, my cousin Philip II will not give up his desire for the throne of Portugal!"

As he spoke, he bowed to Zhao Hao and said, "Please allow me to return to Portugal. I will never forget your kindness!"

Zhao Hao felt disgusted when he heard this, thinking that he was really a spoiled child. He still couldn't grow up, thinking that the world revolved around him and everyone should serve him unconditionally...

(End of this chapter)