I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Li Zhixiang didn't have the nerve to say that he was Wang Xuance's second best, because Wang Xuance was just a Huangshui County magistrate and deputy envoy at that time. Even if one person destroyed a country, he could only be promoted to a full-fifth official position when he returned.

But the problem is that Li Zhixiang is now the commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty, ranking first as a military attaché, not to mention that he has more than [-] guards around him.

Until the end of the battle, the guards around Li Zhixiang felt a little regretful.

In fact, a guard from Hunan said: "Their army is too weak, and the fights between our villages are more fierce than theirs!"

This soldier from Hunan is not bragging, not to mention that Hunan was very chaotic during the Qing Dynasty. Bandits and chieftains were so armed that they almost often fought with each other. There were also water fights between villages. The scene was quite heated, with swords, guns and sticks. Don't worry, wooden cannons and muskets are the way to go, and the government doesn't dare to control them.

A Venetian captain said: "Ceylon's army is so bad. If you want to deal with them, you don't even need to plan. Just fire a few cannons and fire a few volleys to scare them into collapse!"

Li Zhixiang sighed and said: "I thought that the Ming Dynasty's guard soldiers were bad enough, but I never expected that there would be such a bad army... Forget it, saying they are an army is simply insulting the two armies. One word! All soldiers, attack and defeat them completely!"

To say that the Ming Dynasty's army is bad, it requires a prerequisite, which is a lack of food and ammunition. If the army is paid enough and the ammunition is sufficient, and there is no need to strengthen training, the Ming Dynasty's army will become like an army, like wolves and tigers.

In fact, the Royal Army of the Ming Dynasty absorbed a lot of guardsmen, and after giving them the treatment of Ning Haijun, their combat effectiveness skyrocketed.

Just when Li Zhixiang led the improvised troops to kill the collapsed Ceylon Army, an accident happened. More than a dozen foreign devils walked towards Li Zhixiang.

They brought translators with them, shouting: "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding..."

Li Zhixiang looked at these dozen foreign devils and said with an unkind look on his face: "Who are you?"

"Dear General Ming Dynasty, we are from the Kingdom of Portugal, Dos Santos, the Governor of Sri Lanka!"

Santos showed what he thought was a very charming smile towards Li Zhixiang: "This is a beautiful misunderstanding. Our Kingdom of Portugal has a close relationship with the Ming Dynasty. Now this is the territory of our King of Portugal. General, please consider the friendship between our two countries." For my sake, don’t continue the war!”

"Is this Portuguese territory?"

Li Zhixiang sneered: "Then, can I think that if you Portuguese attack the Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty, this is a war. Sir, our Ming Dynasty is a big country and will not go to war without declaring it. Please go back and report it to your king." , the Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty issued a letter of war to the Kingdom of Portugal, a formal ultimatum, which will be issued later, so stay tuned!"

"Do not……"

Santos broke into a cold sweat after hearing the interpreter's explanation: "This is a misunderstanding!"

"Go to your mother's misunderstanding!"

Li Zhixiang grabbed Santos by the collar and said: "The people here attack my commander's guards indiscriminately. This is an undeclared war. This is a sneak attack. Wash your neck and wait!"

"Your Majesty General, we can talk, we can talk!"

Santos said hurriedly: "There is a saying in your Ming Dynasty that even the smartest people will make mistakes. General, you have to give a person who makes a mistake a chance to correct it!"

Li Zhixiang has been following Cheng Shijie for six or seven years. Of course, he also knows Cheng Shijie's character and temper. He must be tough when dealing with others, otherwise he will wait to be dealt with.

Of course, Li Zhixiang did not order to continue the attack and kill all the Ceylon natives. For the Portuguese, there was no loss. What was important was this position.

No matter how ignorant Li Zhixiang is, he still knows the importance of Ceylon Island to the Ming Dynasty and must be occupied. Even occupying a port is of great benefit.

On the beach where Li Zhixiang's Luoyang ran aground, Ming soldiers started to light a fire and start cooking. As for the Western businessmen and armed sailors temporarily hired by Li Zhixiang, they took out the biscuits and bread they carried with them and gnawed them.

The food of the Ming army has always been inferior to that of the navy. The navy's cooks were more particular. They used the rice supplied from Yecheng to cook pots of fragrant rice. Every ten soldiers gathered around a can of pickled cabbage and fat meat to cook the rice. , the sour sauerkraut whetted their appetites, and the large chunks of fat provided sufficient calories for their bodies.

Although it is said that fighting now does not require firing crossbows like in the cold weapon era, the problem is that because the enemy collapsed too quickly, they had to catch up for more than 30 miles, which consumed a lot of physical strength and the thighs were so sore that they could not eat. There’s really no way to replenish your energy by ordering high-fat food.

The considerate cooks would not forget to prepare some after-dinner drinks for everyone. After boiling the water, they took out pieces of dry cheese as hard as rocks and threw them into the pot, then added sugar, tea leaves and a small amount of salt. , boil pots of thick tea soup for everyone to enjoy.

This drink is fragrant and delicious. It not only helps digestion, but also allows people to quickly restore physical strength. It is extremely popular among the Ming army and has become an indispensable daily drink for the Ming army.

This is an eye-opener for Westerners. You must know that in Europe, tea is a luxury product. With their salary, they have no chance to buy it. Even the cheapest tea requires half a month's salary to buy a can.

Of course, at this time, there were no small packages like those in later generations. The smallest tea cans were also packed in one pound. In addition, the tea cans were also made of porcelain, which directly increased the value of tea. This was still the high income of an ocean-going sailor. If it was Their domestic salaries simply cannot afford it.

These Westerners watched the Ming Dynasty's gang leaders throw bags of tea leaves into the pot as if they were free of charge, and swallowed unconsciously. Probably only the people of the Ming Dynasty were so wealthy that they no longer took tea seriously. How could they, the poor sailors, have such luck?

They looked at the sumptuous dinner of the Ming army, and then looked at the hard and dry biscuits in their hands, and the bread that could be used as a meteor hammer to smash people to death if put in a net bag and tied with a rope. I want to cry inside, why is the gap so big?

At this time, Europe was filled with wonder and envy when facing the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty’s extensive and profound culture, huge population base, exquisite civilization, dazzling food and clothing, exquisite silk porcelain, majestic palaces,
All this made them amazed and amazed. There was no way, the gap was too big. When the wealth of the Song Dynasty was [-] miles ahead of other countries on the planet, Europeans were still nibbling beans in castles full of cobwebs and shit.

Nowadays, Europeans have a bit of money, but they are still poor in material things. Take food as an example. Apart from vegetables, fruits, sausages, beef and potatoes, they don’t seem to know what else to eat, and they have to change the ways of eating. There were always the same things there, and it was extremely monotonous. It was absolutely impossible for them not to feel inferior when faced with the big foodie empire who ate three dishes in one day and never tasted the same food in their lifetime.

Fortunately, the Ming army was not stingy. For the sake of everyone fighting side by side, they generously invited them over to taste their drinks. Everyone had a can and drank happily around the fire.

Located in Li Zhixiang's tent, Santos drank two pieces of milk tea in one breath until his belly bulged high and made a squeaking sound when he moved. Then he reluctantly put down the cup, wiped his lips with his sleeve, looked at Li Zhixiang and said : "Dear General, I really can't. If I dare to sign, our King will hang me after I go back..."

Li Zhixiang actually doesn't know how to negotiate, but the problem is that when the country is strong enough, resourcefulness and skills are not important. Li Zhixiang took the map and pointed directly at Ceylon Island from nearly two-thirds of the way.

Therefore, the area south of the central mountains of Ceylon Island was divided into Kandy, which was the old capital of the original Ceylon Kingdom. The south belonged to Portugal and the north belonged to the Ming Dynasty. Li Zhixiang said calmly: "If you provoke a war between the Ming Dynasty and Portugal, your king will trample your whole family to death!"

Li Zhixiang did not threaten Santos, which is definitely a fact.

Not to mention Portugal, whose strength was far inferior to that of the Dutch, even the Dutch did not dare to provoke the Ming Dynasty easily.

Santos adopted delaying tactics to delay the incident.

Li Zhixiang is also stalling for time.

On the early morning of the next day, a Portuguese sailor docked on the coast suddenly saw more than twenty tall warships appearing on the sea, all of which were flying the dragon flag of the Ming Dynasty.

While Santos was still sleeping, he was woken up by his men, and the Ming Dynasty's warships arrived.

Santos hurriedly found Li Zhixiang and told him that he had figured it out and signed the contract immediately. All areas north of Kandy, including the city of Kandy, would belong to the Ming Dynasty, and the south would belong to Portugal.

It wasn't until he saw the Ming Dynasty's warships that he realized what Santos was really afraid of. He was really afraid that the Ming Dynasty warships would take down the entire island of Ceylon in one fell swoop. You must know that Portugal also has more than 20 warships in Ceylon, but the problem is that their warships have no guns. The displacement is still far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty's battleships.

If the two sides go to war, Santos believes Portugal will not be able to hold on for a day.

If they can persist for a day, they are bragging. If they can persist for an hour, they are considered capable.

Hearing the news that Li Zhixiang was found, Li Fang finally breathed a sigh of relief. If Li Zhixiang was lost, he did not dare to think about what would happen to him.

Fortunately, Li Zhixiang was fine, but the problem was that before Li Fang could get excited, Chen Fugui reported: "General, there is a ship heading towards us!"

Li Fang asked: "How many ships are there?"

Chen Fugui said: "More than 20 ships!"

Li Fang got up and walked onto the deck, and sure enough he saw a ship approaching from several miles away.

Li Fang said depressedly: "What the hell, they seem to be surrounding us?"

At this time, the guide also ran over, looking at the fast approaching fleet, his complexion turned pale, and shouted: "It's...it's a pirate!"

"Pirates? How are you sure this is a pirate?"

While he was talking, the pirate fleet had dispersed, spread out in a flying geese formation, and inserted itself into the left and right wings of the Ming fleet. The boating skills of these pirates are quite powerful. Their ships can shuttle freely in the sea area covered with reefs. This dangerous sea area is like their backyard. This boating skills really make the Ming army sailors stunned. Sigh.

What makes Li Fang even more unbelievable is that although they are not all the battleships of the entire expeditionary force, the problem is that they are a Chinese formation of the large fleet. There are sixteen Sea Wolf-class battleships alone, and there are eight naval vessels. Shark class, four giant shark class, a total of 28 warships.

With a warship of this size, even if the Dutch East India Company's combined fleet encountered them, they would still be overwhelmed. These pirate ships were ignorant and fearless. Their number was about the same as that of the Ming Dynasty fleet, and they actually dared to take the initiative to launch an annihilation encirclement.

"What the hell, pirates are robbing warships, do they have shit in their heads?"

Li Fang really couldn't figure it out. I really can’t figure it out.

The sound of the flute could be faintly heard in the sea breeze. It was melodious and melodious, yet also eerie and gloomy. The whole melody was so weird that the soldiers of the Ming army who heard the sound of the flute were puzzled.

But the guide's legs were weak, his whole body was trembling, and he looked frightened. He said, "It's... it's Ottoman pirates! It's Redbeard! They are coming, and we are doomed!"

"What is a pirate? What is a red beard?"

The guide was at a loss for words: "Ah...ah...ah..."

"What a fart!"

Li Fang slapped him away.

The guide finally came to his senses.

"What are they? Redbeard, how are you sure they are Redbeard?"

The guide introduced: "One of the characteristics of Red Beard is that after he surrounds a fleet, he will play the flute on the bow of the boat to warn the surrounded fleet. If the surrounded fleet takes the initiative after hearing the sound of the flute, If you hand over the belongings and beauties on the ship, you may still be able to save your life, but if you ignore the sound of the flute, he will go on a killing spree, leaving no chickens or dogs behind!"

Li Fang sneered and said: "That's quite arrogant! Okay, I want him to have a good time this time! After the battle breaks out, don't bombard the deck of Red Beard's flagship with cannons. Hit me at the waterline. I will capture him alive." Then tear him in two!”

About three or four nautical miles away, on a warship with a tonnage of nearly [-] tons, a black flag was flying in the sea breeze. In the black flag, a huge skeleton's empty eyes were coldly staring at the unknown gun opposite. fleet.

Under the flag of the skull, a tall man sat cross-legged on the bow of the boat, with his eyes closed, playing a strange and thrilling tune on a crystal clear white jade flute. His long beard hung down to his chest. , black and shiny.

PS: I'm very sorry. Lao Cheng has been sleepy recently. He slept for fourteen hours a day and had no energy all day long. He fell asleep at about [-] o'clock last night and didn't update. I wanted to make up for it today, but I couldn't hold on. It is estimated that his body no longer allows Lao Cheng to engage in this job anymore. (End of chapter)