"The Emperor is here, the Emperor is finally here..."
Fan Mingchen suddenly couldn't control himself and burst into tears.
The island of Ceylon is isolated overseas, thousands of miles away from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty.
If it starts from Tianjin Wei, it will take at least two months. Even if the steamer moves at full speed, it will take more than a month.
The soldiers stationed on the garrison have relied on the faith in their hearts to persevere until now. They believe that the emperor will definitely come.
Yes, definitely!
Facing the hungry wolf-like Ottomans, they gave a powerful counterattack. There were dozens of large and small battles, with countless casualties. Even if the island ran out of ammunition and food, they were still struggling to hold on.
The front team died in battle, and the rear team fought on top. The soldiers died in battle, and the common people fought on top...
They shed too much blood, but never shed a tear.
Now that reinforcements finally appeared, this tough man could no longer control himself and completely released the pent-up emotions in his heart.
Zhang Mao patted him on the shoulder and comforted him: "Ceylon Island is the land of the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor will never forget it."
Fan Mingchen choked with sobs and nodded while wiping his tears.
Zhang Mao asked again: "Nanhaiwei sent information saying that Ambassador Peng was in Ceylon. What happened?"
"Oh, that's right..."
Fan Mingchen sorted out his thoughts for a moment, and then said: "Ever since he learned that Ambassador Peng's fleet was seized by the Ottomans, my father began to organize rescue forces. The Ottomans originally wanted to negotiate, but they did not expect that our army suddenly came to kill them.
, the other side was not well prepared, and envoy Peng led his people to resist, so they were able to rescue the people by working together internally and externally."
"Although the people were rescued, most of the ships were still detained, and their combat effectiveness was severely damaged. More importantly, the food on the island was limited, and suddenly there were two thousand more people, making it even more tight."
"The Ottomans suffered a heavy loss and then massed their forces to attack the island of Ceylon. My father immediately organized the soldiers to build fortifications and sent people to Nanhaiwei to ask for help."
"In just two months, the Ottomans organized dozens of large and small attacks, but we were all beaten back. It stands to reason that they were fighting from a distance. Under such consumption, the logistics supplies would not last long. What I didn't expect was...
…”
Speaking of this, Fan Mingchen couldn't help but sigh and continued: "These people turned to attack the Tik Kingdom across the strait."
"The Kingdom of Tik has done some business with us. Its weapons and equipment are relatively backward, but its grain production is rich. After being occupied by the Ottomans, it was equivalent to solving the supply problem and continuing to besiege the island of Ceylon."
"Last night was the decisive battle. If you hadn't arrived in time, I'm afraid the whole army would have been annihilated."
Zhang Mao listened silently, and then said: "Don't worry, our fleet has brought grain, and there is a special grain transport fleet departing from Jiaozhi, which will arrive in another half month."
Fan Mingchen nodded and said: "As long as the Ottoman siege is lifted, the food problem can be easily solved."
At this time, two soldiers walked in hurriedly carrying a stretcher.
"General, we have found Mr. Peng!"
Zhang Mao and Fan Mingchen hurriedly got up and took a look. The person on the stretcher was none other than Peng Qing, the patrol officer of the Ming Dynasty. At this time, his body was covered with blood stains, and his hair and beard were all burnt and turned into a ball.
"Master Peng!"
Zhang Mao shouted cautiously, but saw Peng Qing slowly open his eyes with a look of relief.
"You are here..."
"Coming, we are coming!"
After Zhang Mao finished speaking, he immediately ordered the military camp to come for treatment.
Not long after, the military doctor reported back: "Fortunately, it's just a skin injury, no damage to the internal organs. Just rest for a while."
Only then did Zhang Mao feel relieved. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel fear. Even Peng Qing joined the battlefield. This shows how dangerous the battle last night was. Just as Fan Mingchen said, almost the entire army was wiped out.
If you come one day late, the consequences will be disastrous!
Peng Qing seemed to have lost all strength. He closed his eyes and asked, "Mingchen, how is your father?"
Fan Mingchen quickly replied: "Still in a coma."
"General Fan stayed by my side last night. Otherwise, my life would have been lost long ago."
Fan Mingchen remained silent because it was his father and son's duty and there was nothing to say.
Zhang Mao came forward and informed the emperor that he was personally leading an army to the expedition.
After hearing this, Peng Qing said slowly: "This matter is entirely due to me. I didn't expect the Ottomans to be so ambitious. They were so stupid. They were fine when they went there, but they suddenly turned against each other when they came back and alarmed the emperor. Really?"
Yes...I really deserve to die..."
Zhang Mao was a little puzzled and asked: "The Ottomans and I, the Ming Dynasty, have always been on the same page, so why did they suddenly fall out?"
"It's not like these idiots are blinded by money. They saw that my fleet brought a lot of gold and silver, as well as various gems and precious spices... In short, they are all good things."
Zhang Mao said angrily: "What a piece of shit, rob it in plain sight!"
"Who says it isn't?"
Peng Qing's eyes were full of resentment and he said: "When I went to sea last year, the Ottomans had just replaced the Eastern Roman Empire and occupied the Persian Gulf. When they saw my fleet, everyone was very flattered and begged me to make deals with them.
"
"It's the same this year. I've prepared two large shiploads of porcelain, tea, silk and other goods for them, and the prices are reasonable. Unexpectedly, these guys are so unjust and see me carrying a large amount of gold.
When Yin returned home, he became greedy."
"It's my fault that I didn't take precautions in advance and was careless!"
After listening to Peng Qing's story, Zhang Mao roughly understood the ins and outs of the matter. He immediately compiled a memorial and sent a clipper to the main army.
At this time, Zhu Qizhen's large troops had just arrived at Nanhaiwei and were making final rest.
"What do you think, brother Huang?"
Zhu Qiyu personally accompanied him and patrolled Nanhaiwei.
"Well, good job!"
Zhu Qizhen praised him repeatedly. It can be seen that my little brother is now quite good at managing overseas affairs and he is doing it well.
This is the famous Malacca. It is no exaggeration to say that whoever controls this strait controls the world's trade routes.
"According to the emperor's wishes, my brother has formulated a set of navigation procedures. For passing merchant ships, customs duties will be levied according to the size of the ship's hull. The tax rates for cargo ships in different countries are also different. All the vassals of my Ming Dynasty,
The tax rate is relatively low.”
Zhu Qizhen nodded and said: "Let's do it like this. I will make an alliance later. Those who are willing to join our Ming allies will get a discount on the tariff. It doesn't matter if they don't join. The normal fees will be charged. As for those who are looking for trouble and causing trouble, we will directly charge them."
Don’t let them pass, just take a detour!”
Zhu Qiyu thought about it and saluted: "Brother Emperor is wise!"
"Your Majesty, urgent report from Ceylon Island!"
Yuan Bin arrived in a hurry, holding a letter in his hand: "Zhang Mao has arrived at Ceylon Island, please report urgently!"