Chapter 366: Xin Jiulang (Two in One)

Hu Zongxian calmed down, nodded slightly, and said with a hint of resentment: "I think he didn't think much of the fighting power of the imperial court's officers and soldiers, that's why he came up with the idea of ​​my own soldiers."

Xu Wei smiled and said: "Otherwise, there is another reason. The imperial army is mobilized, and the marching master needs to check the official documents. Although Bai Xiaoyou can forge illusions, he can't forge official documents. I went to find Zhou Shun, and there was no need to check the official documents to call the soldiers, and when Zhou Shun saw the vision of the governor, he naturally agreed to everything."

Yu Dayou muttered: "Bai Xiaozheng is a bit mean, since he wanted to avenge me, why didn't he come to me directly, wouldn't I want to lend those three people to him?"

Xu Wei thought for a while: "General Yu, don't complain, it's for your own good too."

Yu Dayou was at a loss.

"The Taizu once listed the Wa country as a country that will not be conquered. Before the emperor made a decree, as a general of the court, he could not rashly attack the land of the Wa country. If you borrowed your own soldiers to Bai Xiaoyou, it would be a crime knowingly. I tried my best to cover it up for you. Now he has used Taoism to deceive the three lieutenants under your command, and you don’t need to bear the responsibility if you don’t know about it.”

When Xu Wei said this, he shook his head and said with emotion: "I don't know when His Majesty will issue an order to conquer the Japanese country and wipe out the source of the Japanese pirates. Without the imperial order, our hundreds of thousands of troops can only disperse and defend the long coastline. I just sit and watch Bai Xiaoyou in danger alone. I really feel bad." Taste."

Hu Zongxian said sternly: "Mr. Wen, what you said is not what a minister should say. Even if we don't take the initiative to attack, we will build up the fortifications along the coast, prepare our horses and fight hard, and the Japanese pirates will come and go. Within ten years, the banditry will definitely subside. If you take the initiative to conquer, you will be far away from the sea, and the supply will be difficult, but the outcome will be unpredictable. Have you forgotten the old story of Mongolian Kublai Khan's three expeditions to Japan?"

Xu Wei nodded slightly, of course he knew. Kublai Khan of the Yuan Dynasty once conquered Japan, built 7,000 large ships, and had a magnificent army, but all three crusades failed. The first two times were insufficient preparations, not familiar with water, and unable to land. The last time was well prepared, but encountered a typhoon, and the fleet was sucked into the seabed.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, set up the Dan Shu iron certificate to prohibit future generations from conquest of Japan. It was not because he didn’t want to, but because he was limited in ability.

"No matter what, Bai Xiaoren must keep his mouth shut about borrowing soldiers," Hu Zongxian heaved a sigh of relief, "He has created a problem for me."

...

In the endless blue sea, two warships sailed through the waves.

"Look at the time, Hu Zongxian should have gotten the news." Bai Xiaowen looked up at the sun.

"Our reputation hasn't declined." Li Shuyi said.

"Well, Hu Zongxian probably wouldn't publicize this in the anti-Japanese Ming army camp, so it's normal that our reputation hasn't dropped. However, it's a bit strange that Hu Zongxian and I's friend-level friendship has not dropped significantly. But no matter what Well, it's a good thing."

Of course, Bai Xiaowen didn't know that when he visited Xu Wei at the end, he had no intention of doing it. Xu Wei helped him explain the whole story in front of Hu Zongxian and Yu Dayou, avoiding the risk of his favorability decreasing.

In fact, Bai Xiaowen has already made preparations, and even if Hu Zongxian's favorability is reduced, he will admit it. Next, the anti-Japanese Ming army camp must digest the fruits of victory, break up the pirates and train new troops. It is impossible to make any big moves in the short term. , staying there is tantamount to wasting time.

Bai Xiaowen thought about how to use the remaining free exploration time yesterday.

One option is to go north to the capital and do Sun Xuanqing's mission line. This quest line involves the orthodox struggle between the Taoism of the Heavenly Master and the Quanzhen Sect, and will inevitably be accompanied by the strengthening of Taoism skills, spells and props, which is more suitable for the development of a spiritually special awakened person like him.

However, Fujian is very far away from the capital, and the land route is difficult. It is estimated that after the rest of the five days, they will not be able to reach the capital, let alone participate in the mission line of the Taoist battle.

Therefore, Bai Xiaowen can only choose the second option, which is to do the side mission unearthed before, to find the sword.

"Xiaowen, we should be far away from Japan, right? If we just go to Japan like this, will we not have enough time?" Li Shuyi asked.

"To make it clear, our goal of going to sea is not Hirado Mishima, but Matsuura Shinkuro," Bai Xiaowen said, "If we are lucky, Matsuura Shinkuro has not returned to China, but is stationed in Nanyang and the Penghu Islands. Find him as soon as possible. Of course, the worst scenario cannot be ruled out, that is, Matsuura Shinkuro has returned to Japan, and we will spend a lot of time sailing."

After a pause, Bai Xiaowen said again:

"Kinmen is indeed very far from Hirado, and the straight-line distance is about the same as from Kinmen to the capital. However, the sea route travels day and night, and it does not need trivial and complicated things such as road guides and customs documents. It is relatively fast. According to my calculations, we can go to Ping Tosan Island, if the boat is fast, it will only take about three days, even if the wind direction is unfavorable, it will only take more than four days."

"So, even if the worst happens, there is still time, but it is relatively tight." Bai Xiaowen concluded.

"So, where is Matsuura Xinjiulang? How can I find him?" Li Shuyi frowned and said, "I also read his reply letter to Ye Mazi, but Matsuura Xinjiulang didn't mention his whereabouts at all in it."

Bai Xiaowen said: "I have already considered this aspect. Both Xin Jiulang and Ye Mazi are the leaders of the samurai group of the Matsuura family, so they should not be so cautious as to conceal each other's whereabouts. Considering that communication at sea is difficult, the two wrote in the letter It is more reasonable to communicate frequently and inform each other of the course of action. In other words, Ye Mazi must know the location and movements of Matsuura Xinkuro, so Xin Jiulang did not specifically mention it in his reply."

"But Ye Mazi is dead."

Bai Xiaowen nodded: "Ye Mazi is dead, but the pirates under his command are still there. Before I set off last night, under the guise of Hu Zongxian's illusion, I not only borrowed two hundred soldiers, prepared food supplies for half a month, but also inspected the prisoner-of-war camp. , Selected a few Ye Mazi's confidant pirates, and escorted them to the ship. Now, it's time to interrogate them and find out the location of Matsuura Shinkuro."

Bai Xiaowen gave instructions to the outside of the cabin, and after a while, Zhang Ting brought a few personal soldiers and escorted three of Ye Mazi's confidant pirates over.

"There are only three people? And they look very weak, so I'm afraid they are low-level people," Li Shuyi said in a low voice, "What if they don't know Ye Mazi's real Japanese identity?"

The three of them are all ordinary templates, and their level will not exceed level 5. In terms of strength, they are probably not as good as Bai Xiaowen's skeleton sword and shield hand, which is indeed weak enough.

Bai Xiaowen shook his head: "I chose these three people after careful consideration. They are weak, but they are Ye Mazi's confidantes, which speaks for itself - one of them even serves as Ye Mazi's side, similar to a butler. And the other two, one is responsible for conveying Ye Mazi's flagship semaphore, and the other is responsible for maintaining Ye Mazi's saber. If these three people don't know the true details of Ye Mazi, no one will know."

All three of them were bound tightly with hemp rope, their mouths were also sealed, and they were detained separately in the hold. Until now, one of them was weak and was escorted over. When he saw Bai Xiaowen, his eyes showed fear. .

Bai Xiaowen said calmly: "You are Ye Mazi's subordinates. Now that Ye Mazi has been executed, you are also guilty as his henchmen. However, now I will give you a chance to perform crimes and make meritorious deeds, and expose Ye Mazi's secret. Who knows Ye Mazi's secret? Whoever has the most will be pardoned first."

Bai Xiaowen waved his hand, motioning for Zhang Ting to take off the sealed sesame balls of the three of them.

The three Japanese pirates panted heavily, but no one spoke first, and the atmosphere was a bit dull for a while.

Bai Xiaowen was not in a hurry, and tapped his fingers on the table lightly: "It seems that you don't cherish this opportunity to make meritorious deeds. Kits, drag him out and feed the fish."

Bai Xiaowen casually pointed to a person, and that person was Ye Mazi's flag pirate. With a frightened expression on his face, he begged for mercy loudly: "My lord, I really don't know what secret Ye Boss... Ye Mazi has! By the way, he likes to gamble. ..."

Bai Xiaowen didn't listen to what he said, but just waved. Kitts laughed and dragged the man by the back of the neck, dragging him out of the cabin, and then there were exclamations and the sound of heavy objects falling into the water. Throwing it into the sea while being tied up so tightly would make it difficult for even a water-savvy person to survive.

The remaining two were even more silent.

Bai Xiaowen glanced at the two of them: "My patience is limited, wait another five seconds, if the two of you still haven't said anything, go feed the fish together."

"My lord, I am willing to say it!" a Japanese pirate said tremblingly.

Bai Xiaowen glanced at the man, and recognized that he was a pirate who maintained his sword for Ye Mazi. For a real Japanese warrior like Ye Mazi, the saber is an important existence in life. This person can wipe and maintain the saber for Ye Mazi, so he must be trusted by Ye Mazi.

"Say it."

"Ye Mazi...he's not Ming!"

Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes, showing interest.

Ye Mazi's housekeeper, the pirate, cursed loudly, "Baga! Makita, you coward who is greedy for life and afraid of death, you actually want to betray the Matsuura family?"

A smile appeared on the corner of Bai Xiaowen's mouth. It seemed that he made the right choice. The three people he picked, at least the two in front of him, knew Ye Mazi's background.

After being scolded, Makita, the Japanese pirate who maintained his saber, felt guilty.

However, Bai Xiaowen directly cast the Confusion Charm on the housekeeper's Japanese pirates!

"The ratio of the enemy's strength to ours is 0.224:1, and the success rate of the confusion judgment of the heart-confusing charm is 77.60%."

"The determination of confusion was successful! Japanese pirate Arima Jiro has been confused."

Japanese pirate Makita, seeing the attitude of the housekeeper Japanese pirate Arima Jiro change from anger to submissiveness, kneeling in front of Bai Xiaowen and wishing to kiss his boots, he felt a burst of fear.

"This person is relentless and unrepentant, and I have already taken away his soul with Taoism. I can also find out nine out of ten of the secrets he knows. Next, if you dare to speak half a lie, I will let you Just like him!"

Bai Xiaowen actually exaggerated the ability of "telepathy" to detect and remember. Telepathic ability, the memory fragments that can be detected are very limited, not even half of them, and the ratio of nine out of ten is even more impossible.

However, Makita, the Japanese pirate who maintained the Japanese sword, was terrified, and immediately knelt down and swore that he would never tell a half-truth.

Bai Xiaowen first asked a few secrets that he had discovered, such as some details of Ye Mazi's daily life, small habits, etc., and the Japanese pirate Makita told all he knew in a very respectful manner. Bai Xiaowen deliberately said one or two things that Makita had inadvertently omitted, and Makita was in a cold sweat in shock, believing that what Bai Xiaowen said was true.

Afterwards, Bai Xiaowen focused on asking about the Matsuura family and Matsuura Shinkuro.

The Matsuura family lived in Mishima, Hirado during their time. The head of the family was named Matsuura Takanobu, and his dharma name was Doke. Hirado Mishima is the birthplace of Japanese pirates, and Hirado Port itself is a good port, so it has become a place for all kinds of Japanese pirates to sell their stolen goods.

Since the Ming Dynasty banned the sea and canceled the "reconnaissance and cooperation" trade with Japan, the Japanese upper-class nobles became more and more thirsty for the silk cloth produced in the Ming Dynasty. For this reason, a large number of armed smuggling sea merchants, that is, Japanese pirates, robbed the Ming Dynasty. The prosperous Jiangnan coastal area. After all, no matter what time it is, no-cost business is the quickest way to make money in the short term.

At the beginning, Wang Zhi, the great Japanese pirate, settled down after receiving the courtesy of Matsuura Takanobu on Hirado Island. Later, he developed into a pirate godfather-level existence that restrained Japanese pirates in Southeast Asia.

In addition to strongly supporting the Japanese pirates' sale of stolen goods on Hirado Island and enjoying the resale profits, Matsuura Takanobu also focused on cultivating the Matsuura family's private fleet to participate in the ranks of the looting Japanese pirate army. Famous ones such as Matsuura Shinkuro, Matsuura Shisuke, etc., are all able-bodied officers of the Matsuura family fleet.

Speaking of Ye Mazi, his real name is Maya. The reason why he changed his name, banner and even his native place to join the ranks of fake Japanese is because of double considerations of light and darkness, echoing Matsuura Xinkuro.

Ye Mazi's secret move was mainly to gather intelligence information for Matsuura Xinkuro's fleet, in case there were pirates who wanted to steal their ideas into the Matsuura family's fleet.

A few days ago, Xin Jiulang attacked Fujian and was pursued by Yu Dayou. After Yu Dayou was injured in a sneak attack, Xin Jiulang sent a secret letter to Ye Mazi, asking him to participate in the looting of various provinces in Fujian while Yu Dayou was injured and unconscious, and expand the results of the battle.

Afterwards, Ye Mazi dispatched Chen Duyan (Chen Bao), the second master, to break into Quanzhou Mansion and robbed a lot of wealth. However, Chen Duyan was first blackmailed by Xu Hong, and then four awakened people were matched to Chen Duyan's flagship by the rules of the spirit world, so that all the property was robbed and Chen Duyan himself was beheaded.

"Where is Xin Jiulang now?" Bai Xiaowen asked the last key question.

Japanese pirate Makita thought for a while and said, "I heard from Ye Mazi that Xin Jiulang will temporarily stop by the Penghu Islands to see the situation in Zhejiang. If Qi Jiguang is transferred to Fujian, he will take advantage of the situation to plunder Zhejiang..."