When Zhu Ping'an woke up, the navy's rescue ship had already completed the search and rescue operation and returned.
Except for those pirates who died in the sea during the attack that day, all the others were captured by the navy, including the one-eyed pirate and Sanji in black feather robe. It can be said that the entire pirate army was wiped out without a single one escaping.
Most of the pirates died in the sea. Although they were excellent swimmers, they were still not good enough in the face of the huge waves on that day. In particular, the pirates' small boats were not resistant to wind and waves, and all of them were smashed to the bottom of the sea by the waves.
Basically, the survivors were pirates who attacked the supply ships at the rear of the navy. These warships were large in size and had strong resistance to wind and waves.
In addition to the ship where Li Shu and Zhu Ping'an were, two of the navy's rear supply ships were also broken or overturned by the waves in the deep sea. The rest of the ships were seriously damaged but not capsized. In other words, Zhu Ping'an and his crew were unlucky, as theirs was one of the three ships overturned by the waves.
The pirates mainly attacked two ships, one of which was Zhu Ping'an's ship, and it was the main ship under their control, so the pirates suffered severe damage when it capsized.
The other old women and maids around Li Shu were luckier. Although they were captured by pirates and tied to the mast shortly after the pirate attack, they managed to survive because of the mast when the huge waves hit, and were successfully rescued when the navy came to help.
The navy that came back to support easily strangled all the pirates who were resisting stubbornly on the supply ship. Except for those who surrendered, the rest of the pirates were either captured by the navy or beheaded and pickled as military merits. The pirates who survived in the sea were all captured by the navy and became prisoners. The one-eyed pirate and Sanji were captured by the navy in the sea.
After the battlefield was cleared and counted, 98 pirate heads were captured (including the bodies of pirates salvaged from the sea), 63 pirates were captured, and the rest of the pirates were buried at the bottom of the sea without a trace. Among the heads, there were 28 real Japanese and 70 fake Japanese; among the captured pirates, there were 13 real Japanese and 50 fake Japanese.
According to the prisoners, there were 368 pirates in total, which means more than 200 of them died in the sea.
Judging from the results, it can be said that this battle was a great victory, and it can be regarded as a brilliant victory in the coastal anti-Japanese war in recent years. It is certain that there will be generous rewards when this victory is submitted to the capital.
However, faced with such a victory, Linhuai Hou could not be happy.
Because his niece Li Shu and future niece-in-law Zhu Ping'an, a sixth-rank official of the imperial court, also "died in the sea".
Li Shu is the apple of the eye of the third brother, and his doting on Li Shu is well-known throughout the Linhuai Marquis's residence. Putting aside the third brother's mysterious position, in terms of wealth, the reason why the Linhuai Marquis's residence can maintain its current appearance is inseparable from the contribution made by the third brother. Thinking of the situation after the third brother knew the news, Linhuai Marquis felt very difficult and overwhelmed.
In addition, the niece's future husband Zhu Ping'an is also a problem. He is the youngest number one scholar in the Ming Dynasty so far, and he entered the Hanlin Academy early. The emperor also summoned Zhu Ping'an and promoted him on the spot. This was registered in front of the emperor. It would be difficult to explain if he died in the sea like this... ...
Linhuai Hou stroked the table, feeling a headache.
On the table in front of Linhuai Hou was a tray with a golden hairpin on it. The hairpin was found by the rescue team on the neck of a pirate whose body was floating on the sea. Because there was a word "Li" on the hairpin, the navy handed it over to Linhuai Hou after finding it.
Lin Huai Hou recognized the golden hairpin. The "Li" on it was a secret mark commonly used by the third brother's shop. A hairpin of this kind could only belong to his niece, Li Shu. It was because of this golden hairpin that Lin Huai Hou concluded that Li Shu had died in the sea.
Linhuai Hou seemed to be able to imagine the scene when the pirates attacked, Li Shu fought desperately, stabbed the pirates' neck with a hairpin, and finally died in the sea with the pirates.
In addition to this golden hairpin, there is also a belt on the table in front of Linhuai Hou. This belt is the belt that Zhu Ping'an wore, and it was also found on the pirate. It was based on this belt that Linhuai Hou concluded that Zhu Ping'an was also unfortunately buried in the sea.
After pondering for a moment, Linhuai Hou stood up and walked to the porthole, throwing the golden hairpin and belt on the table into the sea.
"If the third brother asks, just say that Shu'er was missing in the storm. Also missing was Lord Zhu Ping'an, and the navy's search and rescue efforts found nothing." After closing the porthole, Marquis Linhuai instructed the steward who had followed him for many years.
Linhuai Hou threw the golden hairpin and belt that proved that Li Shu and Zhu Ping'an were buried at the bottom of the sea into the sea, and described them as missing.
Being buried at sea means that there is no other possibility, and life ends at the bottom of the sea; being missing means that there are other possibilities, including the possibility of survival.
This way, there is hope, and it will be easier to explain to the third brother, so that the third brother won't...
"Don't worry, sir. I will give you detailed instructions later." The steward nodded in agreement and learned from the experience.
"Well, I trust you to do the job." Linhuai Hou nodded with satisfaction.
At this moment, the news of the navy's suppression of bandits at sea had not yet reached the capital, but the capital was not at peace at all. Two days ago, when the ripples caused by Zhu Ping'an's memorial exposing the killing of innocent people and taking credit for it had not yet subsided in the capital, two more memorials in the capital caused even greater ripples.
The first one was sent by Zhao Jin, the imperial censor who was touring Yunnan and Guizhou, from Yunnan and Guizhou, thousands of miles away. This memorial directly pointed at the current Prime Minister Yan Song. It was not to flatter Yan Song but to impeach Yan Song.
"I have seen that the solar eclipse on New Year's Day this year is very unusual. In addition, Shandong, Huai and Xu have experienced floods for consecutive years, and earthquakes have occurred in all directions. I have reported to the emperor that changes are not in vain and must be responded to by similarities. I, your humble servant, respectfully examine human affairs with the will of heaven... The Prime Minister Yan Song has relied on his favor and power to indulge in lust. He has taken control of everything, no matter how big or small. He has used the Criminal Court to carry out his likes and dislikes, and has given life and death to people at will. He has changed everything based on the amount of bribes. The petty people have gained their own power and have swept the temple of integrity... I hope Your Majesty will observe the clear signs of heaven, the subtle thoughts of the Second Ancestor who made laws, the inability to change the power, and the inability to disturb the rules and regulations, and depose Yan Song as soon as possible to respond to the changes of heaven."
Zhao Jin: From natural disasters to the powerful official Yan Song's control of the government, he pursued personal gain, which led to the deterioration of the government, the chaos, the injustice of the people, the poverty of the country, and the internal and external difficulties. Please remove Yan Song immediately.
The arrow shot from thousands of miles away caught Yan Song off guard and caused some shock in the court. However, under the advice of Yan Shifan, Yan Song adopted the approach of retreating in order to advance.
So, the white-haired Yan Song pretended to be overworked, went into the palace with tears in his eyes to apologize to Emperor Jiajing, knelt before Emperor Jiajing and cried without saying a word, then asked Emperor Jiajing to dismiss him from his position as prime minister and allow him to resign and retire.
Emperor Jiajing looked at Yan Song quietly for three minutes, then comforted him in a gentle voice, and wrote a special decree, ordering the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest Zhao Jin on the charge of "deceiving Heaven and slandering the emperor". He was imprisoned and tortured, given forty strokes of the cane, and dismissed from his post.
The second letter was from Zhou Mian, a Langzhong in the Military Selection Office of the Ministry of War. His memorial was similar to Zhu Ping'an's. Zhu Ping'an impeached someone for taking credit for killing an innocent person, while he impeached someone for taking credit for the court's military achievements. However, the person he impeached was Yan Xiaozhong.
Who is Yan Xiaozhong
Yan Xiaozhong is the grandson of Yan Song and the son of Yan Shifan. He is still in his infancy and has not been weaned yet.
Zhou Mian pointed out in his memorial that Yan Song's grandson Yan Xiaozhong was still a child and had never been involved in the army, but he pretended to have made contributions to Guangdong and Guangxi and was awarded the post of pacification and the title of Qianhu in the Jinyiwei. He pointed directly at Yan Song, saying that Yan Song's private party used it to make his descendants officials.
Zhou Mian was not much better off than Zhao Jin. He was soon imprisoned and tortured, and was also demoted to a commoner.
It can be said that all impeachments of Yan Song, or impeachments related to Yan Song, have failed.
Therefore, many people in the capital are now watching Zhu Ping'an's memorial, waiting to see what will happen to him.
There are obvious differences between Zhu Ping'an's memorial and these two memorials. These two memorials either directly pointed at Yan Song or Yan Song's relatives, but Zhu Ping'an did not.
However, the person Zhu Ping'an impeached was promoted by Yan Song and was also related to Yan Song.
So, everyone is waiting and watching... (To be continued.)