When Shi Chang listened to the words of the Western man in front of him, he always felt that what he said was very confusing. However, Shi Chang still understood the meaning of this man's words.
He agreed.
Shi Chang's expression softened, he nodded and said, "Since you agree, let's go."
Childe Harrold smiled and asked: "Please forgive me for a moment, General. I also want to ask the captain for instructions." ??
Shi Chang frowned, and after pondering for a few breaths, he nodded in agreement.
Childe Harrold turned around and walked towards the captain and started chatting with him. At first, the captain's face was extremely bad, and he was obviously very resistant to Ming's request.
However, with Childe Harold's constant persuasion, the excitement on the captain's face gradually subsided. Finally, he nodded with difficulty and reluctantly agreed.
After persuading the captain, Childe Harrold returned to the captain. He stroked his chest again and said, "The captain agreed, please lead the way."
The commander nodded and said to the others, "Close the team."
Then he signaled for several hanging baskets to be put down on the warship, and all the Ming soldiers, captain, first mate, second mate and others were hoisted onto the warship.
Then, the warship set sail again, left the three pirate ships, and headed towards the flagship.
After Han Du gave the order, he ordered the fleet to slow down and waited with Zhu Biao and Tang Ding while drinking tea.
The flag force commanded the warship to approach the flagship, and then also used shuttles to jump onto the flagship with a few Westerners.
The flag army walked forward quickly, suddenly knelt on one knee on the ground, clasped his fists and said: "The general will pay homage to His Royal Highness, the Marquis of Zhenhai, and the Marquis of Suyi. Bring the Westerners!"
Zhu Biao waved to the flag army, "Get up, bring the people up, and ask them if you have anything to say."
The flag army immediately stood up, stepped aside, and waved to a few Westerners, beckoning them to come forward and pay their respects.
Several people were urged forward by the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. After the three of them looked at each other, they all touched their chests and bowed down. The first mate said loudly: "Child Harrold pays homage to His Excellency, the first heir to the Ming Dynasty."
"How dare you not kneel down before His Highness the Crown Prince? What are you talking nonsense about?" Zhu Biao's personal guards on the side were not polite to these Westerners at all. Seeing that they did not understand etiquette and changed their honorifics indiscriminately, they stepped forward to teach them a lesson.
.
Zhu Biao smiled, waved his hand to stop the bodyguard, and said: "Those who do not know are not guilty and will be exempted."
Han Du shook his head and said with a smile: "Your Highness, that's not what I said. These Westerners don't understand etiquette. They only worship the strong. But it is precisely because of this that etiquette is
It is even more indestructible.”
"Oh?" Zhu Biao looked at Han Du curiously and asked with a smile: "Don't they have any education?"
Han Du shook his head, "Where is the education? They have been struggling to survive since they were born, which is very similar to the way of survival of the grassland tribes. They are exactly like wild beasts in the mountains and forests. The weak eat the strong and the strong are respected, and they never protect the weak.
First of all, if we show weakness to them, not only will we not get their gratitude, but it will make them think that we are weak and can be bullied. They will always look for our shortcomings, and once they find an opportunity, they will pounce like wolves.
Come up and bite. Even if it means losing your life, I won’t hesitate!”
Zhu Biao did not expect that these Westerners, who looked like dogs, were so virtuous. After pondering for a while, he felt that being too nice to them might not necessarily be right, so he asked Han Du: "Then what do you want?"
Do?"
Han Du looked at the three people, his eyes gradually turned cold, and said: "Since the Ming Dynasty is strong, there is no need to be polite to them. When they come here, they must know that no matter what happens, they must follow the rules of the Ming Dynasty.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand etiquette, just let them understand.”
"Come here, teach them etiquette, and then salute His Highness the Crown Prince!"
Zhu Biao saw that Han Du was so solemn, so he nodded and said: "Just follow the wishes of Marquis Zhenhai, but when teaching them, don't beat or scold them, but be polite."
So, several personal guards stepped forward, walked towards Childe Harold, and taught him over and over again how to meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Under the watchful eye of the Ming army, Childe Harold quickly learned the etiquette of meeting His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and took the lead to kneel down again.
"Child Harrold pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty. His Royal Highness is a thousand years old and a thousand years old."
"Get up." Zhu Biao nodded with eyes full and couldn't help but glance at Han Du. He didn't expect that Han Du's move would have such an effect. He originally thought that these Westerners had never learned the etiquette of audience, so they would not learn it.
Yes. Who would have thought that they would learn it in such a short period of time.
Although the manners of these Westerners in greeting were not entirely polite and their movements still seemed stiff, they were indeed paying their respects.
Looking away from Han Du's face, Zhu Biao asked the first mate with a warm smile: "Are you all businessmen from the West?"
After hearing Zhu Biao's words, Childe Harrold knew
Even in the extremely powerful Ming Dynasty, the identity of the person in front of Dao is second only to His Majesty the Emperor.
The thoughts that he had to suppress in his heart could not stop coming out at this time.
Zhu Biao saw that the expression of the man in front of him kept changing, but he remained silent again, so he had to ask again: "What? Can't you answer Gu?"
Only then did Childe Harold come back to his senses and gritted his teeth and said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Childe Harold is a businessman who came here from the West. But the other three people behind me are
No, they are pirates from the Arabian Sea." .??.
pirate?
Han Du and Zhu Biao looked at each other with surprise evident in their expressions.
Seeing the confusion on Zhu Biao's face, Han Du explained to him: "The so-called pirates are bandits who rob passing merchants at sea. They are similar to Japanese pirates."
After hearing Han Du's explanation, Zhu Biao looked at the three people behind Childe Harold in deep thought. The three pirates dared to pretend to be merchants and even dared to run onto his flagship.
Where do these people get the courage?
When Childe Harrold saw that the Crown Prince and the people around him had no reaction to the pirates, he thought they didn't know how terrible the pirates were. He quickly told his story with excitement, "These butchers,
Despicable robbers, bloody executioners, maggots in the sewers, they killed my employees, robbed all my goods, and forced me to take them to the Old Port."
"What are they going to do in Old Port?" Han Du quickly interjected and asked before the person could finish speaking.
Seeing that someone finally paid attention to him, Childe Harrold quickly thanked him with tears in his eyes: "These maggots have heard that the Old Port is the most prosperous place in the East, with countless wealth, and they want to take this opportunity to come.
A robbery."
Rob the old port? Just with their three broken ships? Han Du was amused by this man's words.
Shaking his head, he said: "Are you sure you are right? Just with your three ships, you dare to come and rob the old port?"
If the old port was so easy to be robbed, the Japanese pirates would have done it long ago. Why would they wait until now?
As the most important foreign trade port of the Ming Dynasty, Old Port has three thousand soldiers in the Governor's Mansion alone. These are elite soldiers armed with revolvers. In order to provide these soldiers with patrols and sea operations, the Governor's Mansion in Old Port also has six warships.
Normally, there are at least three ships on alert, ready to go into battle at any time to deal with various emergencies.
besides
As a local snake, the Shi family in Jiugang also has considerable force. Although it is not as powerful as the Governor-General of the Ming Dynasty, it is not something that the pirates driving these three broken ships can handle.
Seeing that Handu was doubtful about his words, Childe Harrold quickly explained: "These pirates used to only rob passing merchant ships in the Arabian Sea. They didn't know anything about the Ming Dynasty at all. They only heard about the rich people in the old port.
, hence the idea of robbing the Old Port."
Han Du smacked his lips a few times, looked at the person in front of him with a smile, and said, "Then you didn't tell them the true situation in Old Port?"
"No." Childe Harold took a deep breath with some embarrassment, and finally answered truthfully. It was not that he had never thought of lying, but he knew that in front of such a big man as Ming Dynasty, even if he lied, he might not be able to deceive.
If the person in front of me tells the truth, there may not be any bad consequences.
"Hahaha, it seems that you have no good intentions. You know that the Ming navy is guarding the old port and you brought them here. Do you still want to rely on the power of the Ming Dynasty to kill them?" Han Du?
Looking into this person's eyes, he joked meaningfully.
Childe Harrold couldn't help but shrink back in fear when Handu told the center of things. He looked up at the person in front of him, feeling frightened in his heart. He felt that in front of this person, he seemed to be invisible.
Just like wearing clothes, no thoughts in your heart can deceive this person.
In this case, Childe Harrold simply nodded and admitted: "Your Excellency is right, that's exactly what I thought. These damn pirates killed my sailors and robbed my goods.
It’s not that I said I could bring them to Old Port, I’m afraid they would have killed me long ago. I’m always thinking about how to send them to hell, and since I can’t do it, I don’t mind using the power of Your Excellency.”
This is what happened. Han Du and Zhu Biao looked at each other. Today was really full of twists and turns. I thought they were just some Western businessmen, but I didn't expect that they were pirates disguised as businessmen. What I didn't expect even more was that the only Westerner who could speak Ming Dynasty.
, are the real merchants, while the others are pirates.
Seeing that Zhu Biao had no intention of speaking, Han Du smiled and continued: "Although you said they are pirates, I still can't believe you."
"Sir, why is this?" Childe Harold's expression changed instantly, and he asked directly, regardless of etiquette.
If the people in front of him don't believe that those people are pirates, then he will be in big trouble. Sooner or later, those people will know that he betrayed them, and he will definitely be thrown into the sea to feed the fish.