Chapter 518

Just as Su Qiao had said, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's performance was truly abysmal.

Even though he was a newcomer, he should have handled matters decisively and efficiently.

His previous performance had been quite good, and he had worked tirelessly without complaint.

But this time, his impression points were deducted to zero in an instant.

Indeed, because of this leak and assassination attempt, Zhu Youjian almost lost faith in the entire organization.

Upon returning to the palace, he first severely reprimanded Luo Yangxing.

Then, he ordered twenty strokes of the cane!

The crackling sound of the beating was relentless; even though Luo Yangxing possessed martial arts skills, he was beaten badly, his buttocks turning purple and swollen as if ready to burst.

Fortunately, Zhu Youjian only intended to teach him a lesson, calling it twenty court canings.

Otherwise, he might have truly burst open!

Zhu Youjian trusted Wang Chengen even more.

Mainly, the issue of the leak and the Embroidered Uniform Guard's poor performance were both major problems.

With Wang Chengen involved, he would serve to supervise and investigate.

Since Zhu Youjian had been the target of an assassination attempt, Wang Chengen had long been simmering with anger, eager to investigate to the very bottom.

Now that Zhu Youjian had appointed him, he naturally did not refuse.

Subsequently, the Embroidered Uniform Guard underwent a very decisive self-investigation.

Moreover, the appearance of the assassins from the Eastern Camp made the people of Great Ming doubt the Japanese.

After all, yesterday's incident, while not huge in scale, was not small either, and it could not be concealed.

Many court officials and others had heard some news about it.

The Japanese envoys stationed in Great Ming were immediately arrested.

They were dragged into the Imperial Prison while shouting loudly that they were innocent.

Seeing Liu Rushi laughing, Su Qiao did not go out, having stayed properly at home recently.

He waited for the results of the external investigation.

Three days later, the results came out.

It turned out that someone within the Embroidered Uniform Guard was indeed the problem.

An Embroidered Uniform Guard Company Commander had married a Japanese woman and then let something slip.

The Japanese woman had also committed suicide.

Of course, the Company Commander who let the secret slip was also executed.

The remaining clues seemed to have all been cut off, which made Zhu Youjian extremely displeased.

As for the Japanese envoys thrown into the Imperial Prison, they were truly unaware of the plot.

In any case, none of them spoke; none of them lasted long before they all died.

Now the matter had escalated greatly!

170 War was inevitable; Great Ming and Japan must fight a battle.

At the morning court!

"Speak up! Didn't you all say before that Japan was a vassal state, a nation not to be attacked? Now this 'nation not to be attacked' has begun to assassinate me. Are you forcing me to die without being able to fight?"

Zhu Youjian sat on the Dragon Throne, using this as an excuse to unleash his fury.

None of the court officials below dared to provoke him, listening obediently.

Seeing that no one was opposing him, Zhu Youjian did not continue to press the matter, but instead turned his head to look at Zheng Zhilong.

"Zheng Zhilong! Cao Bianjiao!"

"Your subject is here!"

Hearing the voice, Zheng Zhilong and Cao Bianjiao quickly stepped out from the formation.

"I order you to sweep away the Japanese pirates of Japan and pacify Japan. Do you dare to accept this imperial decree?"

"Your subject dares!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong was overjoyed in his heart.

He had previously been enlightened by Su Qiao and understood that Zhu Youjian was planning to use military force against Japan.

He had been looking forward to this, and he never expected results to come so quickly.

He must also thank the Japanese for assassinating Your Majesty; otherwise, he would not know when he would have the opportunity to command the navy and continue to earn merit.

That's right, he had tasted the sweetness!

As for naval warfare, Zheng Zhilong truly feared no one!

"Your subject also dares!" Although Cao Bianjiao might know less about naval warfare, it did not mean he was not brave.

372, officially strike against Japan!

He had also read some military books on naval warfare.

Although those military books were about river warfare and had nothing to do with open-sea naval battles!

"Excellent! In that case, I hereby appoint Zheng Zhilong as Regional Commander of the Navy and Cao Bianjiao as Vice-Commander, to lead the Fujian Navy to pacify the Japanese pirates of Japan! The original Regional Military Commissioner of the Fujian Navy shall remain and await further orders!"

"Yes!"

After the morning court ended, almost everyone in the capital knew.

Great Ming and Japan were about to go to war!

Before, they had only been preparing, lacking a reason to act.

This assassination attempt suddenly made the justification for war abundantly clear.

Had Su Qiao not witnessed Zhu Youjian's previous assassination attempt with his own eyes, a near-death experience,

one might have suspected Zhu Youjian of staging it himself!

But now, regardless of the circumstances, war has truly begun!

News travels fast in Great Ming, even though delivering it to Japan requires crossing the sea.

Yet envoys had already returned with the news beforehand, warning the so-called Shogunate that the Great Ming Emperor was determined to launch a military campaign against them.

Consequently, Japan had remained on high alert.

The moment the Fujian Navy mobilized, instantly, the Japanese, along with Japanese pirates and others, were filled with terror, seeing enemies in every bush and tree, and rushed to prepare their defenses.

Although this was the first time Zheng Zhilong and Cao Bianjiao were cooperating,

Zheng Zhilong understood that Cao Bianjiao was a fierce general Your Majesty valued relatively highly.

He dared to fight and charge, and when battling the Jianzhou Jurchens and Tatars, he was almost always at the forefront of the troops.

Zheng Zhilong dared not underestimate Cao Bianjiao.

Even though he knew Cao Bianjiao's bravery was limited to land warfare and might not hold up in naval battles.

Even so, he treated Cao Bianjiao with great courtesy.

As for Cao Bianjiao, he knew that naval warfare was his weakness and that he lacked Zheng Zhilong's experience.

Moreover, Zheng Zhilong had previously achieved a crushing victory in a naval battle against the Dutch.

Furthermore, he had signed a treaty highly favorable to Great Ming.

He was at the height of his confidence; Cao Bianjiao was no fool, nor was he lacking in common sense.

He certainly would not intentionally provoke Zheng Zhilong.

Instead, he would humbly seek advice.

Under these circumstances, the two coordinated very smoothly, and Zheng Zhilong grew increasingly optimistic about the success of this campaign.

The Fujian Navy deployed sixty large warships, plus over three hundred other vessels in total, moving in a mighty procession.

They constituted the main force for sweeping through Japan and the Japanese pirates along the Great Ming coast this time.

These elite soldiers had been selected long ago and were in constant training; they boarded the ships quickly after Zheng Zhilong and the others arrived.

The pirates and Japanese pirates who sensed trouble were truly terrified.

Especially those near Fujian, who scattered and fled at the first sign of danger.

But Zheng Zhilong and his men had to complete the mission entrusted to them by Zhu Youjian this time.

The first objective was to sweep away all pirates and Japanese pirates.

After all, when they reached the Japanese mainland to fight, they might need to transport grain, minerals, and other supplies in and out.