***
Bang!
With a loud bang, the door of the inn was kicked open. Several strong-dressed men in the room were startled and drew their swords to fight. The black-clad riders outside the door pulled the triggers at the same time, and the crossbows in their hands shot out, instantly turning the strong-dressed men into hedgehogs.
There was a loud roar followed by the black-clad knights rushing into the room like wolves and tigers. They grabbed Zheng Hongkui who was about to escape through the window, and immediately beat him up with fists and kicks, until Zheng Hongkui became like a pig's head and screamed in pain.
At the mouth of the Yangtze River, Zheng Zhilong, disguised as a white-haired old man, opened the cabin curtain and looked at the vast sea and sky. He felt so relieved that he couldn't help but let out a long roar: I'm back, sea, I'm back!
"Master, it's bad!"
"What's wrong?"
Zheng Zhilong was startled and ran out of the cabin quickly, but saw speedboats jumping out of the sea all around him and surrounding the merchant ship he was on. In the distance, four clipper warships rushed out of the sea level, forming a fan shape to block his way, and the black muzzles of their guns were pointing at him from afar.
There were at least twenty or thirty speedboats, which were coming towards this side like arrows. On the boats, fire scissors were mounted on the side of the boats, and strong bows and crossbows were drawn and ready to be fired.
Huang Lianshan, the commander of the Yebushou Army, had his cloak blown by the sea breeze and shouted at the merchant ship: "Zheng Zhilong! Surrender!"
"dream!"
It was a death situation, and Zheng Zhilong, with a pale face, roared and was about to command his men to resist, when a dazzling flame suddenly swept across the sky and pierced the bow of the merchant ship.
boom!
With a deafening bang, a huge fireball suddenly exploded from the bow of the merchant ship. Then the bow was suddenly lifted up by a giant hand and thrown several feet above the sea. Zheng Zhilong and others on the ship were hit so hard by the sudden explosion that they couldn't stand steadily and fell to the deck like rolling gourds.
The speedboats around were like a school of sharks, biting at them one after another, and long hooks were thrown up. One by one, dark shadows flew up along the hooks. Zheng Zhilong's men on the boat had just climbed up from the deck when crossbows and arrows flew from the speedboats outside, killing them one by one, screaming... ...
In Fujian, waves of Qin cavalrymen roared and galloped, besieging houses one after another and chasing after fleeing people. Zheng Tai, Zheng Chaonan, Zheng Ying, Zheng Cai, Zheng Xing, Zheng Ming, Yang Geng and others were all captured.
At sea, Zheng Zhibao attempted to escort Zheng Tai and his family out to sea. Admiral Gu Rong of the East China Sea Fleet personally took command, and one warship after another flew over the sea, giving Zheng Zhibao a head-on blow and chasing him all the way.
Hundreds of rebels led by Zheng Zhibao, Gan Hui and Hong Xu were unable to escape the incredibly fast clipper warships and retreated to Kinmen Island in an attempt to put up a last-ditch effort. After Gu Rong led the fleet to trap Kinmen, he sent the Marines to the island to wipe them out.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Hong Xu killed Zheng Zhibao and Gan Hui, and brought their heads with him to surrender.
Niu Jinxing and his son Niu Quan were also arrested along with Zheng Zhilong.
This incident shocked the whole country and more than 34,000 people were implicated. It is known as the biggest case since the founding of the Qin Dynasty.
The emperor followed the principle of cutting the Gordian knot. In addition to Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Hongkui, Niu Jinxing, Zheng Tai, Zheng Chaonan, Zheng Ying, Zheng Cai, Zheng Xing, Zheng Ming, and Yang Geng who were taken to the capital for execution, more than 30,000 people were implicated and their homes were confiscated, and they were all exiled to Nanhuazhou.
The colonization of South China by the Qin Dynasty began in this way.
Dayuer played an indispensable role in capturing Zheng Zhilong and others so quickly. If she hadn't quickly found the traitor in the inner palace and allowed Qin Mu to lock on the target, things would probably be far from so simple.
As long as the time difference is just a little bit, Zheng Zhilong will be like a dragon returning to the sea, and Zheng Zhibao, Zheng Tai, Zheng Chaonan, Zheng Ying and others in Fujian will have enough time to escape to the sea.
These people were originally bandits. Once they were allowed to escape to the sea, it would be difficult to hunt them down in the vast ocean.
During this incident, Yuan Zongde, who was stationed in Fujian, voluntarily surrendered his military power to prove his innocence, and did not follow Li Guo and others in raising the flag to rebel against Qin.
Qin Mu was naturally very pleased with this, and he made him a positive example. Not only did he not implicate him, but he also promoted him to a higher position to appease those who came from the Dashun Army.
****
Li Guo, Li Laiheng and Liang Tao not only failed to cross the river to attack Ma'anshan and rescue the tens of thousands of captives mining in Ma'anshan, but were instead deserted by their friends and relatives, with fewer and fewer men around them. All prefectures and counties imposed strict blockades on them, and even ordinary militiamen were dispatched in the tens of thousands to join the blockade. Yan Yingyuan and Ling Zhan had a total of 10,000 cavalrymen, who were divided into several routes and continuously attacked and pursued them.
Li Guo, Li Laiheng and Liang Tao are all experienced men, but the people of the world are determined, and they are like a skilled cook without rice. The soldiers under their command are getting fewer and fewer. What can they use to fight Ling Zhan and others
Just five days later, Li Guo and others, who were unable to cross the river, were surrounded by Ling Zhan and Yan Yingyuan in Wujiang Town.
That’s right, it is the Wujiang Town where Xiang Yu committed suicide. It is located north of Hezhou, and Ma'anshan is to the east across the Yangtze River.
Since Li Guo returned to Qin, although he had been suspected by the emperor and had not been reused, and his life was extremely depressed, he also understood the general trend of the world and knew that this was no longer the chaotic world when they could command the support of everyone.
This time, they first received wrong information, and the news that Qin Mu was seriously ill was spreading throughout the capital. Then someone framed him and it came to this.
"Live as a hero, die as a ghost hero. I still miss Xiang Yu, who refused to cross the Yangtze River."
Looking at the surging river flowing northward, Li Guo, who had been in military service for half his life, sighed with regret. He did not want to be taken back to Nanjing and be humiliated, so he followed in Xiang Yu's footsteps and drew his sword and committed suicide by the river.
Li Laiheng and Liang Tao cried loudly while holding Li Guo's body. After burying him hastily, they also committed suicide by cutting their own throats.
There is no absolute right or wrong in this world. When the news that Li Guo and his three men committed suicide by slashing their throats at the Wujiang River reached Nanjing, Qin Mu did not even sigh;
Rebellion is rebellion, no matter you have a thousand or ten thousand reasons, as an emperor, you cannot show any sympathy. Otherwise, you will be forced to commit suicide sooner or later.
Thus, a new round of property confiscation and exile began again. Li Guo’s family members and those involved were all confiscated and exiled, and the total number of people became close to 7,000.
This time the place of exile was no longer South China Island, but Ceylon.
The natives of Ceylon were driven to the Indian mainland in large numbers, and now the island is sparsely populated. This tear on the Indian Ocean has now been formally incorporated into the territory of Daqin, and Gaolangbu Port has been designated as the headquarters of the ocean-going fleet in the Indian Ocean.
These 7,000 people were exiled to Ceylon and slowly reformed. In fact, it was not a reform at all. How many of these people were really against Qin? After being sent there, they would eventually slowly turn into ordinary people and become the first group of Qin people to open up Ceylon.
Perhaps what no one expected was that Huang Daozhou and Liu Zongzhou were also exiled. The charge was that they were bewitched by Zheng Zhilong and incited scholars to knock on the palace gate, which was a disguised support for Zheng Zhilong's rebellion.
Huang Daozhou and Liu Zongzhou were busy compiling history in the History Museum, and almost ignored what was happening outside. They suddenly went to the emperor to protest. It was indeed because Niu Xingjin sent people to incite them. In detail, it is not unreasonable for them to be implicated.
The total number of people implicated this time exceeded 40,000, and people all over the world were horrified when they heard about it. Although everyone knew that Huang Daozhou and Liu Zongzhou were somewhat wronged, at this time, who would be willing to intercede for Huang Daozhou and Liu Zongzhou? Aren't they afraid of being exiled together
In this way, Huang Daozhou was exiled to Nanhuazhou and Liu Zongzhou was exiled to Ceylon. Fortunately, the emperor took into consideration that they were just deceived, so he pardoned them by changing the exile to demotion and sent them to Nanhuazhou and Ceylon to serve as academic officials respectively.
But no matter what, the strong signal sent by the exile of these two Confucian masters to a deserted island thousands of miles away was enough to silence those who opposed the academic officials' assessment of mathematics, physics and chemistry.
If you are not afraid of death, then you can try knocking on the palace gate and submitting a petition. The emperor is complaining that there are not enough people in South China and Ceylon.
The emperor used the Zheng family conspiracy case to exile Huang Daozhou and Liu Zongzhou, and punished them both. Wasn't it to suppress the trend of opposing the examination of mathematics and physics by academic officials? Anyone who rushed into the muzzle of the gun at this time would be a real pig.
Nanjing is gradually returning to peace, but the aftermath of this conspiracy is far from over. Gao Guiying was captured in front of Li Zicheng's tomb, and Qin Mu did not kill her immediately. It is still unknown whether Gao Yigong in Qingzang will rebel... ... ... .
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ps: These chapters have been criticized a lot from the beginning, plus I have been feeling unwell these days and have difficulty concentrating, so some details are not handled satisfactorily. I would like to sincerely apologize to everyone again.
I would like to ask for subscriptions from everyone here. Haoyuan is a bachelor, but he has to support his elderly parents. He relies on these meager royalties to support himself. I only pay a few cents per chapter. I sincerely ask for subscriptions.
Friends who have monthly tickets, please support me. Nowadays, there are many competitors in the category rankings, and I am being squeezed lower and lower. It’s unbearable!
.(To be continued..)
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