novelAbuy Chapter 144 Liu Mu: Black slaves and foreign women are both good things
Chapter 144 Liu Mu: Black slaves and foreign women are both good things
On the third day of the tenth month of 1675 AD (the same day as the third day of the tenth month of the Han Dynasty), just as dawn was breaking, the entire 20,000-strong army that was going to conquer Korea assembled at Andingmen.
Aguda led 10,000 Jurchen cavalry, with himself riding two horses at the front. All of them were dressed in blue cloth armor and carried scimitars, spears, and bows.
In the middle is Aguda's wife, Jin Ge, leading three thousand slave soldiers from the North Sea. They are all clad in blue cloth armor and are about to be responsible for the assault, so they are only equipped with short weapons.
Qi Yanzhao encountered the same problem. These wild men from the North Sea were also afraid of the heat. If they went to the dry Western Regions, they would all die there. So he only took his own troops and gathered a Shuofang Guard before setting off early.
At the very back was Zhao Lie, who personally led 6,000 soldiers from the Heilongjiang garrison and more than 10,000 laborers to escort the rear, carrying loads of dried meat, grain, gunpowder, and cannonballs.
Like the garrison troops of the Beijing Garrison, the Black Dragon Guard was equipped with 3,000 muskets, 30 small cannons weighing 500 jin each, 10 large cannons weighing 1,000 jin each, 50 Flying Thunder God cannons, 1,000 mixed Han, Mongol and Jurchen cavalry, 1,000 heavy infantry, and 300 shield carts.
"Let's go!"
With Zhao Lie's order, messengers rode off on horseback to relay the message, and the army quickly turned around and headed towards Shanhaiguan.
At this moment, Liu Mu was standing on the city wall wearing an overcoat, watching the army march further and further away, his face expressionless, seemingly lost in thought. Zhao Fengnian, who was following beside him, however, showed a worried expression.
"Your Majesty, although Korea is small, it has a population of tens of millions. Wouldn't sending such a small force be too inadequate?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Mu tightened his cloak.
"It's alright. After three attacks by the Qing Dynasty and decades of extortion, the elite troops of Korea will definitely not exceed 30,000. Moreover, they have too few cavalry and firearms. We can defeat them in just one large-scale decisive battle."
Liu Mu didn't actually finish his sentence. When the Central Plains attacked vassal states, it was always the father attacking the son, and both remained silent.
Because the nobles of Korea, as well as a large number of lower-ranking generals, were loyal to the Central Plains powers, they mostly did not resist or were the first to turn their guns on the enemy.
Of course, this excludes the Manchu Qing dynasty.
Neither Vietnam nor Myanmar is satisfied.
North Korea is geographically close, yet it outwardly complies while inwardly defying orders!
Thinking of this, Liu Mu shook his head and then sat on the dragon carriage. Beside him were eight black slaves, each 1.8 meters tall and covered in jet black. Under Liu Dingbian's command, they steadily lifted the dragon carriage and walked step by step toward the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
From the top of Andingmen city wall to Taihe Hall, going down the city wall, through the palace gate and along the main road, it takes more than an hour in total. So there are eight black slaves following behind, who will take turns carrying him.
Liu Mu initially refused to ride in the imperial carriage, preferring to have eunuchs carry it rather than ride a horse freely within the palace.
As a result, I tried it once when I returned to Beijing, and the comfortable feeling instantly captivated me. I couldn't put it down for several days in a row.
These black slaves were naturally all presented by Xu Chuang; they all came from the slave market in Manila.
Furthermore, he had already been completely castrated by Europeans before arriving in Manila. Xu Chuang knew this, which is why he sent him to the palace; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to do so.
As Liu Mu lay more and more comfortable on the imperial carriage, he mumbled something to Zhao Fengnian beside him.
"Old Zhao, give Xu Chuang's wife a pair of pearl hairpins as a reward, and his son a fine foal!"
"Issue another decree for Xu Chuang: I really like this black slave; send several hundred more back to the capital next year. Also, find me that beautiful Western woman from Europe!"
Liu Mu was also confused at this point, and blurted out the geographical name that had not yet been made public.
Zhao Fengnian, who was standing to the side, was immediately embarrassed upon hearing this.
He thought to himself: "His Majesty is just making things up on a whim. Well, this means we'll need several hundred more eunuchs. These black slaves are tall and strong; they'd be better used for plowing than oxen!"
Also, what is this "big foreign horse"?
……
At that moment, Xu Chuang, who had just arrived outside the Strait of Malacca and was about to order the sails to be lowered and enter the port of Malacca, suddenly sneezed for no apparent reason.
Yin Huasheng, who was standing to the side, also looked surprised.
"Lord Xu, the weather in Southeast Asia is so hot that I want to take off my clothes. Why are you sneezing? You're not even ten days into the Western Regions yet. You should take care of yourself."
As they became more familiar with each other, Yin Huasheng's naturally talkative nature was fully revealed. Even the nearly seventy-year-old Metsuyi could be talked into hiding in the cabin. Xu Chuang naturally couldn't stand it any longer, so he took the lead and raised the command flag.
"Flatten the sails and proceed into port!"
With Xu Chuang's order, after more than two months of sailing, the sailors were able to maneuver both the hard sails of the Fujian ship and the soft sails of the galleon with ease.
The sails were quickly lowered and the speed of the boat was reduced!
At that time, Malacca was just a small city, located in the middle of the Strait of Malacca, right on the riverbed of the Malacca River, with a superior geographical location.
It was originally built by the Portuguese, then seized by the Dutch, and even after two expansions, it is still only about the size of thirty football fields.
But this small place, not to mention anything else, earns more than 200,000 taels of silver a year just from collecting tolls and selling supplies. It can be described as a golden goose.
When the two hundred warships arrived, flying the Dutch flag, the fortifications on the city walls and hills were already being loaded with cannonballs, and the flag signals were being waved.
On a gun emplacement in the city wall of Malacca, a burly, red-haired officer nearing 30 years old observed through binoculars and revealed a look of surprise.
"Father, that's my father!"
"Quickly, have everyone assemble at the port!"
"Welcome, Governor!"
The red-haired officer had no other thoughts, such as being captured or betraying the country. After all, Metsuiko was the governor of the Dutch East India Company, the maritime superpower. Who could defeat him or bribe him?
However, as the ten largest galleons slowly approached the port, Red Hair noticed something was amiss. Why were the soldiers on board all wearing khaki uniforms, unlike the Dutch soldiers?
However, seeing his father still waving, the red-haired officer lowered his guard, patiently watching the soldiers before jumping off the small Fujian boat, musket in hand.
As for the large-scale boats and the sea-bound boats, they couldn't get close because of their deep draft, so they had to use small boats to make the trip back and forth.
An hour later, when all three thousand Han musketeers were lined up at the port, the red-haired officer was already somewhat frightened and subconsciously pulled out his flintlock pistol, but was grabbed by Metsuiko who had rushed over.
"Olaf, my son, have you heard anything from the company lately, or noticed anything unusual?"
Olaf didn't think much of it; after all, this was his father, the highest governor, and he knew that both he and Olaf knew, so he answered first.
"Nothing else, but two months ago, a soldier disappeared; he probably escaped back to the mainland!"
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