"Lord Matsuura, I remember that you have an evil monk from the Ming Dynasty under your command. Many foolish men and women in Hizen regarded him as a living Buddha and were cheated of a lot of money for incense. In addition, he also borrowed a lot of money many times, and gathered poor farmers, street rogues, ronin warriors, etc. in Satsuma, Osumi, Tsushima, Hyuga, Tanegashima and other places to build ships, buy armor, weapons and iron cannons, and went to the Ming Dynasty many times to burn, kill and loot. I heard that he robbed a lot of money. Lord Matsuura, why don't you let him be the vanguard to lead the way for you and my army to go to the Ming Dynasty to carry out pirate activities? Why go to the far place, waste time and effort, and send people to the Ming Dynasty to spy on the route?!"
Ryuzoji Takanobu was drunk and squinted his eyes, half asking and half blaming.
The Matsuura family head knew that the evil monk of the Ming Dynasty that Ryuzoji Takanobu mentioned was Xu Hai, and he could not help but smile bitterly and explained, "Your Highness doesn't know that I had to do this. First, those who are not of my race must have different hearts. This evil monk Xu Hai is not of my race, and he must have selfish intentions and different hearts. I cannot entrust him with such an important task. Your Highness and my army crossed the sea to plunder the Ming Dynasty. It is related to Your Highness' unification of Hizen and the spread of military power throughout the world. It is of great significance. If the evil monk Xu Hai leads the way, if he is betrayed or harmed by him, the consequences will be disastrous. The Arima clan, the Shoni clan, the Otomo clan, the Shimazu clan, etc., who are already ready to make a move, will definitely take the opportunity to make a move."
Upon hearing this, Ryuzoji Takanobu nodded without comment, with no extra expression on his face.
"Secondly, the evil monk Xu Hai plundered the Ming Dynasty, mostly in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong. This area is not a vital place for the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming army is weak, so it is easy to succeed, and the risk of advancing or retreating is relatively small. However, this area is far less prosperous than the Suzhou and Lake areas. The Suzhou and Lake areas are the economic center of the Ming Dynasty, and there is the Ming Dynasty's secondary capital Yingtian. This evil monk has always been cautious and careful. He dared not invade the Suzhou and Lake areas, for fear that he would be targeted by the Ming Dynasty's official army and concentrated military forces to eliminate him."
"Third, I'm not afraid of being laughed at by Your Highness. I used to be able to control the evil monk Xu Hai, but now he has become more powerful and has many followers, and has gradually slipped out of my control. Now the relationship between the evil monk Xu Hai and me is more of a creditor relationship. Although I can force him to do things in the name of a creditor, this kind of relationship is not reliable. Your Highness, so it's not that I give up the near for the far, but the situation makes me have to give up the near for the far."
The head of the Matsuura family continued.
"I see. I understand. Then let's wait for Naoto, Saburo and the others to come back." Ryuzoji Takanobu nodded and said slowly. After he finished speaking, he turned his gaze to the window and looked at the rough sea outside.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. General Nabeshima is a man of unrivaled courage. My nephew Saburo is also a rare general in the Matsuura family. Moreover, there are thirty warriors in their group who have followed Xu Hai to plunder the Ming Dynasty many times. This time, they will definitely complete the mission of espionage and return safely."
The head of the Matsuura family filled Ryuzoji Takanobu's wine glass and said with a smile.
"Hey, this glass is for Naoko and Sanbanrou and the others." Ryuzoji Takanobu raised the glass and toasted to the sea outside the window.
"Cheers to General Nao and Sanbanrou and the others." The head of the Matsuura family raised his glass and toasted the sea outside the window.
As they were toasting and looking out the window, a huge wave suddenly rose up in the sea and hit the shore.
"Haha... the huge waves are beating like war drums. This is the sea god beating the drum to cheer for Zhinan and Sanlang."
Ryuzoji Takanobu laughed.
"With the support of the sea god, we are bound to be victorious." said the head of the Matsuura family.
Ryuzoji Takanobu and the head of the Matsuura family looked at each other, and they both laughed at the same time, full of confidence in Naoio Nabeshima, Sanbanrou Matsuura and his group.
While Ryuzoji Takanobu and Matsuura family leader were drinking and laughing, Zhu Ping'an taught the Zhejiang Army a second military song:
“All the soldiers of the Zhejiang Army must remember the four iron laws and eighteen executions;
First, all actions must be carried out under command, and only by moving in unison can victory be achieved;
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Second, I never take anything from the masses, and the masses support and like me;
Third, all the spoils must be returned to the public, and efforts should be made to reduce the burden on the court."
Fourth, they would not tear down houses even if they were frozen to death, nor would they plunder even if they were starved to death. Soldiers were loyal to the emperor and loved the people.
... "
Zhu Ping'an borrowed and modified the lyrics of "Three Major Disciplines and Eight Points for Attention" by the revolutionary martyrs, and compiled the Zhejiang Army's military discipline and regulations into a catchy song "Four Iron Laws and Eighteen Cuts", so that the soldiers can remember the military discipline and regulations firmly in their hearts through singing.
Just like last time, those who learned the military songs had priority in eating, so all the soldiers were very enthusiastic in learning.
"Very good, let's go have dinner." After supervising the last whistle to sing the military song "Four Iron Laws and Eighteen Cuts", Zhu Ping'an nodded, told them to go have dinner, and he took Liu Dadao and others to have dinner last.
Zhu Ping'an did not prepare a special meal for himself and also ate from the big pot. After Zhu Ping'an and his party finished their meal at the last sentry post, there was basically only some soup and leftovers left in the big iron pot.
Zhu Ping'an didn't mind. He got a bowl of leftover soup, took three steamed buns, found an open space and sat on the ground. He broke the steamed buns and dipped them in the soup. The food tasted delicious and he finished the whole bun in no time.
Eating and drinking with the soldiers, sharing the joys and sorrows, this is a major key to training soldiers for famous generals in ancient times. The ancients said: A general must share the same tastes and dangers with his soldiers, and then the enemy can be defeated. Therefore, the army has a complete victory, and the enemy has a complete cause. In the past, when a good general used troops, he would give them a basket of wine and make them throw it into the river, so that they could drink it with the soldiers. A basket of wine cannot taste the water of a river, but the soldiers of the three armies want to die for the sake of tasting it.
This is one of the magic weapons that made Flying General Li Guang so popular among his soldiers, so Zhu Ping'an naturally had to practice it himself.
The effect is also ideal.
"In the past, the head of our village had his own kitchen, and every meal was delicious and spicy. We could only eat leftovers. But our general, who was such a high-ranking official, actually ate from the same pot with us, and even ate from our leftovers. Such a general deserves our support..."
"Of course not. Just because of this incident, I, Shitou, will leave my life to our general..."
When the soldiers saw that Zhu Ping'an did not cook his own meal, but ate from the same big pot as them, and had it last and ate the leftover soup, they were deeply touched and their liking for Zhu Ping'an increased, and their support for him increased.
"Master, you are just eating this. How can you eat this? You don't even let me serve you food. If the young lady saw this, she would be so distressed that she would cry. She would definitely scold me for not taking good care of you, wuwuwu..."
When Zhu Ping'an was eating the second steamed bun, he heard a familiar sobbing sound behind him. He turned around and saw the little maid Hua'er and the seductive girl Ruonan dressed as men. The sobbing sound came from Hua'er.
"Why are you here?!" Zhu Ping'an raised his eyebrows.
"Why can't we come?!" The demon girl Ruonan snorted and rolled her eyes, "Unless you are guilty of something!"