Under the guidance of the islanders, Mourning spent a day exploring Hachijo Island.
There are two hills on the island. The islanders call them Dongshan and Xishan. The height is about two to three hundred meters. It is said that Japanese prisoners in exile stay in the mountains on weekdays.
Except for these two hills, the island is mainly plain with a warm and humid climate, which should be suitable for growing crops.
The islanders are all self-sufficient farmers. In addition to arable land, they also catch some seafood from the sea.
There is no army or government on the island. It only relies on the inheritance of morals and habits to maintain the stability of the island. The island owner only has a little more land and does not need other islanders to feed. Therefore, the islanders do not need to pay taxes.
This is really the source of peach blossoms described by Tao Yuanming, except that there is no peach blossom.
On the third day, Wang Yongqing took the navigator and accompanied Mourning to the Blue Island by boat.
The Blue Island is 130 miles south of Hachijo Island. It will be there in half a day. From a distance, the island is green. Perhaps this is the reason why the Blue Island got its name.
There is a mountain in the north of Blue Island. According to Wang Yongqing, this mountain is called Wailunshan, a volcano with a crater measuring three miles in diameter on the top of the mountain.
The outer slopes of Wailun Mountain are all cliffs. The basic mountains along the coast have no flat land and no sandy beaches. They are mainly sea-eroded rocks. Therefore, there is no landing place in the northern part of Aoshima Island.
Mourning followed Wang Yongqing's landing at the southwest port of Blue Island. When he first landed, there were no flowers or applause, but some discordant noises were heard.
"Island owner, what sound is this?" Mourning thought it was a kind of scenery on the Blue Island, like the "Ghost Cry Wolf Howling" valley somewhere in the Central Plains.
Wang Yongqing frowned: "It is probably those Japanese prisoners who are in exile again. These prisoners are very fierce and lazy. They often snatch Han Chinese property, go and see."
Wang Yongqing started, Mourning followed him with a dozen soldiers and ran to the sounding place together.
Within a mile, I saw seven or eight Japanese men in gray kimonos holding long sticks and defeating the Han Chinese who were in their 20s and 30s with various farm tools.
The criminals in exile were still so rampant that Mourning was furious, "Owner, you let them retreat, and I will deal with these Japanese." He winked at the soldiers again, and the soldiers raised their flintlocks and began to take aim.
Wang Yongqing seemed reluctant. He glanced at Mourning and then at the Han who was about to collapse. He finally walked over and said a few words to the Han.
The Han Chinese who were fighting were fighting and retreating. They obviously knew Wang Yongqing.
The Japanese didn't stop, they trailed behind the Han, and slowly chased them.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Flintlocks fired. After a volley of fire, four Japanese were shot and fell, and another Japanese soldier was shot in the right arm. He stretched out his left hand and pressed the wound, but the blood still came from his fingers. Flow out.
The Japanese lying on the ground were not completely dead, screaming like a pig. The harder they were, the faster the blood flowed from the wound.
The remaining three Japanese were stunned for a while. They didn't see how their companions were injured, but the red blood told them that the injuries of their companions were just as iron facts as they were exiled.
None of the soldiers beside Mourning glanced at the Japanese, they were reloading quickly.
The Han people around were also the same as the Japanese. They were temporarily stunned. They didn't know what happened, let alone how the Japanese were injured.
Time seemed to freeze, and the Blue Island restored its usual tranquility.
The uninjured Japanese were the first to wake up from shock. They took the lead in breaking the temporary silence. Perhaps it was the blood of their companions that stimulated their fighting spirit. The three of them glanced at each other and suddenly raised their long sticks and shouted. Pounced towards the Ming army soldiers.
"boom."
A flintlock bullet pierced the chest of the Japanese man at the front. The bullet seemed to make an elastic collision with him, and both sides stopped advancing.
The Japanese didn't fall down. He was looking down at his chest. The blood had soaked his large gray kimono and was flowing to the ground along the gaps in the clothes.
The Japanese who ran in the second place couldn't stand up for a while, and slightly collided with the Japanese in front. The Japanese in front was like lava under the ground, and suddenly found the outlet of the explosion, with a long "Ah..." He fell to the ground and rolled over like other companions...
Another gunman had finished loading his ammunition and was aiming at the Japanese.
Seeing that the situation was wrong, the remaining two Japanese turned around and ran away.
"boom."
This shot hit a Japanese in the thigh, his legs stopped immediately, his upper body was still moving forward, one staggered, fell a "double dog grabs shit", the last Japanese did not even turn his head. Ran away quickly.
The soldiers next to Mourning were all regular soldiers of the North Sea Fleet. They saw the wounded Japanese and regarded them as opponents on the battlefield. Without waiting for Mourning’s order, they drew out their short knives and gave each wounded. The Japanese made up for it and let them go to see the Buddha early.
Mourning wanted to stop it, but it was too late, so he had to sigh: "Hey..."
The Han people around all took a breath, but fortunately, Mourning was brought by Wang Yongqing and should not be their enemy.
Wang Yongqing shook his head, seemingly dissatisfied with the soldiers' method of killing the wounded Japanese, but the soldiers, after all, helped them deal with the Japanese, and finally bowed to Mourning and went first.
The surrounding Han people also gradually dispersed, leaving only the group of Mourning.
Mourning didn't mind, he asked the soldiers to search the bodies of the Japanese, but found nothing.
After waiting for a cup of tea, a Han Chinese came over and said that it was the main island who saw them.
Mourning followed the Chinese and came to a hut. The hut was low and very similar to the hut on Tanegashima Island. It might be used to prevent sea breeze.
But the house was relatively large, and an old man with a haggard face sat in the living room. He didn't get up when he saw Mourning coming in, but gave Mourning his hand to sit down.
"Mo Tuanzuo, are you really from Middle-earth?"
"It's really from Middle-earth, but now Middle-earth is not called Qin, but Daming." Mourning returned a salute to the old man, "Lao Zhang is..."
"This is Wuye Han, the owner of the Blue Island!" Wang Yongqing, who was sitting on his side, introduced the identity of the old man on his own initiative.
"I have seen Han Wuye." Mourning was another courtesy. How could it be said that they are now on other people's territory.
"You don't have to be polite, Mo Tuanzuo, everyone is your own family." Han Wuye gestured behind him, "Mo Tuanzuo is a guest from afar, so let's take the wind for Mo Tuanzuo!"
Han Wuye's men began to serve wine and food.
Mourning felt that Han Wuye was a little weird, but for a while, he couldn't say what was strange. He seemed to be a little cold to himself. He didn't feel the joy of seeing the native Han people again, and he didn't mean to thank him for helping to kill the Japanese. .
Only the two island owners and Mourning ate together. The three of them ate and talked. Mourning felt that Han Wuye had a very serious mind. Although the dishes were rich, his expression was very bad, no. I know if I'm sick.
"Is Han Wuye sick? I have a military doctor."
"Mo Junzuo, Han Wuye is in good health, but he has some thoughts." Wang Yongqing replied on his behalf.
"Mind?" Mourning was a little puzzled, "Could this mind have something to do with the next?"
Wang Yongqing did not answer positively, but expressed his meaning in a tactful way: "Wu Ye Han is worried about the Japanese on the island coming to Japan to retaliate."
"Retaliation?" Mourning understood a little bit. Han Wuye probably blamed himself for killing the Japanese on the island. "Didn't you have conflicts with the Japanese before? Why didn't they retaliate."
Han Wuye looked helpless: "There used to be conflicts, but the Japanese have never died. They grabbed food and left. At least they can maintain peace for a while, but now, hey..."
It turns out that these wolves are raised with food. Can this have a big head? Mourning was not easy to say clearly, "Wuye Han, Island Lord Wang, what should I do now?"
"What else can I do? Forbearance, these Japanese are all masters of swordsmanship. The Chinese people on the island are not their opponents at all." Han Wuye just sighed, "Hey, I don't know how they will retaliate this time, old man. God bless, it's better not to hurt people.
"How many Japanese are there on the island?" Mourning estimated that these Japanese are like pirates who once invaded the Ming Dynasty. They learned martial arts since they were young, have superb swordsmanship, and are not afraid of death. Where can these simple Han people on the island be? Their opponent
"There are about a hundred people, and they are also engaged in farming. Once there is not enough food, they will come to snatch the Han people's food. If they hurt their people, they will come collectively to seek revenge." What Han Wuye worries most is the revenge of these Japanese. If he grabs some food, he can bear it.
"Han Wuye, leave this to me. If the Japanese come to retaliate, let us deal with them." Mourning took the initiative to take the matter. Since he helped, he must help to the end. Besides, the Japanese want to retaliate. It was incurred by killing the Japanese, and now it angers the Japanese. Of course, we can't stay out of the matter.
"You? You are only a dozen people, how can you fight more than a hundred Japanese?" Han Wuye's eyes widened, his gaze became even more frightened, as if he was worried that Mourning would cause him a bigger disaster.
"Don't worry about Han Wuye. We have five hundred people, all of them are on Bazhang Island. This, the owner of Wang Island should have seen it." Mourning turned his gaze to Wang Yongqing, hoping that Wang Yongqing could prove his strength.
Wang Yongqing nodded as expected, he saw Mourning's fleet.
"Can you really deal with these Japanese?" Although Han Wuye didn't believe in Mourning, Wang Yongqing trusted him. Hachizhang Island and Qingzhidao had been in friendship for thousands of years. Blood was thicker than water, and his lips and teeth were cold.
"We were originally Daming soldiers. It was our duty to fight. Wu Ye Han, don't worry." Mourning once again asked Wang Yongqing for help. "Lord Wang, please go back to Bazhang Island. I will write a letter. Let him take it back and recruit two hundred soldiers from Hachizhang Island."
Hearing that he can deal with the Japanese, Han Wuye's expression is a little softer, "Thank you so much, Mo Tuanzuo, if you can really deal with the Japanese on the island, the people of my island will be grateful to Mo Tuanzuo and Da Ming."