My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 303 Dinghaiwei

At Tianjin Port, Zhu Zhanhe and Zhang Fu escorted Ge Chengerlang here.

Zhu Zhanhe did not imprison Ge Chengerlang again in the prison, but imprisoned him on a warship in the port, where he was usually under strict supervision.

Before that, Zhu Zhanhe had already released more than a dozen Japanese pirates, and gave them two small boats, asking them to report back and exchange those plundered Ming people for Ge Cheng Erlang.

But the wait lasted for a month, and there was no news of the dozen or so pirates leaving, which made Zhu Zhanhe also worried, whether these pirates could return to Ge Chengerlang's lair smoothly?

Finally, more than a month later, a small boat came to Tianjin Port again, and the boat was the Japanese pirates that Zhu Zhanhe had released before.

They brought back news that Ge Chengerlang's younger brother, Ge Chengwulang, had agreed to exchange prisoners, and the place was off the coast of Dinghaiwei in Ningbo, which is the area around the Zhoushan Islands in later generations.

"The Japanese pirates really know how to choose a place. This archipelago originally belonged to Changguo County. Later, after the sea ban, Changguo County was abolished, and the people on the island also moved to Ningbo. There are many islands around Changguo County. The sea conditions are very complicated. Once the Japanese pirates are gone, it will be difficult to pursue them!"

Zhang Fu pointed to the map of the sea outside Ningbo, and introduced to Zhu Zhanhe with a frown.

Zhu Zhanhe was also looking at the map at this time. The Zhoushan Islands are the largest archipelago in later generations of China. There are densely populated islands and underwater reefs. If you are not careful, you may hit the reefs, which is very unfavorable for the large warships of the Ming army.

In contrast, the small boats of Japanese pirates are much lighter, with shallow draft and flexibility, and they are absolutely at ease in the Zhoushan Islands.

"General Zhang, do you think the Japanese pirates' lair is in this archipelago?"

Zhu Zhanhe pointed to the Zhoushan Islands and asked Zhang Fu.

"Probably not. Although Changguo County has been abolished, there are still two Thousand Household Offices on the island, which belong to Dinghaiwei and usually patrol the archipelago. Commander Zhou of Dinghaiwei is also very familiar with me. , this person has a strong personality and hates evil like a vengeful, if there are Japanese pirates in his jurisdiction, he will definitely report to the court."

Zhang Fei shook his head.

"So, the other party chose to exchange hostages in Zhoushan because they took a fancy to the sea conditions here."

Zhu Zhanhe nodded and said, based on common sense, it is indeed impossible for Japanese pirates to trade with him at the door of their lair.

"It should be like this. In fact, when I was in Zhenhaiwei, I also studied the pattern of Japanese pirates. Although they often appear in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, their lair should be further south, because every time the imperial court suppresses them, they will go south. fled, and sometimes fled to the Nanyang area.”

Zhang Fei explained again.

Although Zhoushan has complex sea conditions, it is too close to Ningbo. If the Japanese pirates' lair is there, they will definitely be discovered.

"Forget it, don't guess, let's go to Ningbo immediately, as long as those pirates come to exchange hostages, they will never escape!"

Zhu Zhanhe waved his hand and said, no matter how complicated the sea situation in the Zhoushan Islands is, it can only affect the ships, but not the hot air balloons flying in the sky.

So Zhang Fu handed over the shipping matters to Mr. Qi. He took a group of confidant soldiers and boarded the warship to form a combat fleet. Of course Ge Chengerlang was also on board, and then hurried to Ningbo.

The soldiers under Zhang Fu still need to escort the fleet to Liaodong, so this time Zhang Fei only brought more than 1000 people, but Zhu Di allowed Zhu Zhanhe to mobilize the coastal guards, so there is no need to worry about the lack of troops.

Half a month later, Zhu Zhanhe and his fleet successfully arrived at Dinghaiwei, Ningbo. This time Zhu Zhanhe came in secret and did not alarm the local officials, but asked Zhang Fu to send someone to inform Commander Zhou of Dinghaiwei.

Dinghaiwei's command envoy was named Zhou Zhong. After receiving the news, he also came to the port immediately, boarded the boat and saw Zhu Zhanhe, and immediately saluted: "At the end of the day, General Zhou Zhong pays homage to His Royal Highness!"

"Commander Zhou is welcome, you and Commander Zhang are acquaintances, let him tell you why we came to Ningbo!"

Zhu Zhanhe pointed to Zhang Fu who was beside him.

"Brother Zhou, this time we are here for the pirates..."

As Zhang Fu said, he told in detail how he defeated the Japanese pirates at sea and captured Ge Chengerlang.

"The Japanese pirates agreed to exchange hostages, and the place is in the archipelago in Changguo County, so I need your assistance!"

At the end of Zhang Fu's speech, Zhu Zhanhe also showed the troop transfer token that Zhu Di gave him, which made Zhou Zhong immediately clasped his fists and said: "The last general is willing to do his best, please give me your orders!"

"Commander Zhou, the most important thing now is to smoothly exchange the people looted by the Japanese pirates. At that time, I will send someone to quietly follow the pirates and find out the location of their lair. Only then will you and Commander Zhang be needed Lead the troops and destroy their lair in one fell swoop!"

Zhu Zhanhe said with a smile.

Before he left Beijing, he had already investigated Zhou Zhong from Jin Yiwei. This man is indeed a capable general. He has repelled the Japanese pirates' attacks many times. He can be regarded as a very accomplished general. No wonder Zhang Fu has such a good evaluation of him. high.

"The general understands, but the Japanese pirates are very cunning, and the situation at sea is very changeable. It is not an easy task to find their lair by means of tracking!"

Zhou Zhong frowned and reminded.

In fact, he has used this method of tracking before, but every time it failed.

"Brother Zhou, don't worry, this time the son is fully sure that he can definitely find the lair of the Japanese pirates!"

Before Zhu Zhanhe could speak, Zhang Fu who was beside him spoke first.

Hearing Zhang Fu also said the same, and Zhu Zhanhe looked full of confidence, Zhou Zhong couldn't ask any more questions, anyway, his task was to lead his troops to destroy the Japanese pirates' lair, provided that Zhu Zhanhe was really can be found.

On the third day after Zhu Zhanhe arrived in Zhenhaiwei, another Japanese bandit came to his door. Obviously, they had already set their eyes on Zhenhaiwei and knew the news of Zhu Zhanhe's arrival.

This also made Zhu Zhanhe secretly hate that Japanese pirates are actually divided into two types, one is real Japanese and the other is fake Japanese. In fact, fake Japanese are Han people pretending to be Japanese pirates, and these two kinds of Japanese pirates are often mixed together, sometimes Fake Japanese are more cruel than real Japanese.

And there are not a few people colluding with the Japanese pirates, especially some wealthy businessmen in the coastal areas. They help the Japanese pirates sell their stolen goods and provide them with various materials and information. It is precisely because of these people that the Japanese pirates are so difficult to eliminate.

Now Zhu Zhanhe doesn't have the time to pay attention to these scum who colluded with the Japanese pirates, but he has already recorded these in his heart, and when the Japanese pirates' lair is destroyed in the future, he must find out all these scum!

The Japanese pirates found Zhu Zhanhe, and the two sides determined the specific time and place for the exchange of hostages, and Zhu Zhanhe also let the Japanese pirates see Ge Chengerlang brought by him, and the Japanese pirates who reported the letter left in peace.

(End of this chapter)