Chapter 216: Great Anger

In the eleventh year of Hongwu, the ninth day of the ninth month.

On the Double Ninth Festival, the osmanthus in Yingtian Prefecture's city was so fragrant it intoxicated people.

Zhu Yong rose early, taking Guanyin Nu and the two children to ascend Qixia Mountain beyond the city.

Zhu Huanhuan, six and a half years old, rode on her father's neck, tugging Zhu Yong's ear as a reins, giggling nonstop.

Zhu Qiong Jiong, almost two, was held in Guanyin Nu's arms, his little head turning around, finding everything fresh.

"Dad, there's a rabbit over there!" Zhu Huanhuan pointed at the hillside.

Zhu Yong looked up and indeed saw a gray rabbit darting through the grass.

Zhu Yong laughed and said, "Tonight your mother will stew rabbit meat for you."

"Dad, go catch it!"

"Alright..."

Zhu Yong set his daughter down, and without a hammer, he grabbed a stone at hand, flicked his wrist.

The rabbit fell to the ground with a thud, its hind legs kicking twice before it stopped moving.

Zhu Huanhuan clapped and cheered, ran over and lifted the rabbit's ears; the rabbit was larger than her, dragging itself on the ground as she walked back.

Guanyin Nu laughed, "Your father, even when going out to climb, never forgets to kill."

"Mother, the rabbit meat smells fragrant," Zhu Qiong Jiong said in a babyish voice.

The family of four lingered at the summit to enjoy the view, ate some snacks, and only when the sun had shifted west did they descend the mountain back to the manor.

Just as they reached the gate of Wu Wang Fu, Wang Gui rushed forward to greet them.

"Prince, someone from the palace has arrived; His Majesty urgently summons you to enter the palace at once."

Zhu Yong frowned and asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know; the messenger only said it was extremely urgent, and the Crown Prince has already gone ahead."

Zhu Yong handed the two children to Guanyin Nu, swung onto his horse, and rode with Zhang Wu and Chen Heng toward the Imperial City.

……

Inside Qianqing Palace, the atmosphere was so heavy it seemed ready to drip water.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat behind the imperial desk, his complexion ashen.

Zhu Biao stood nearby, his brows tightly knit.

Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Li Wenzhong and Wang Baobao, several great generals, were present, along with a few court officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War.

In the middle of the hall knelt three people, their clothes ragged, faces weather‑worn, bearing wounds.

"Yong Er has arrived; listen to what they say," Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice as Zhu Yong entered.

Zhu Yong stood beside Zhu Biao and looked at the three kneeling men.

One of them raised his head, his voice hoarse, and said, "Prince Wu, I am the third officer Zhou Da Hai of the Hongwu, and our fleet has been sabotaged!"

Zhu Yong's pupils contracted slightly.

Zhou Da Hai trembled as he recounted the events point by point.

In the first day of the fifth month of the eleventh year of Hongwu, the fleet set out from Yingtian Prefecture, twenty large ships carrying porcelain, silk, tea, and white sugar worth a million taels, heading for the South Sea.

With favorable winds and currents, they arrived at Champa at the end of June.

Under the warm reception of the local officials, they rested for three days, replenishing fresh water and food.

At the beginning of the seventh month, the fleet continued southward and reached Java.

The king of Java personally received the fleet's chief, held a banquet, and invited the fleet to anchor for several days, saying there was a large shipment of spices to trade.

The chief, suspecting nothing, left ten ships in the harbor while the other ten went to nearby islands to scout.

As a result, that very night…

"Those bastards slipped a narcotic into the wine and dishes!" Zhou Da Hai gritted his teeth, "Most of our brothers on board fell for it; only the men on our three ships, who went scouting and didn't eat that meal, escaped the disaster…"

Tears streaming down, he said, "But when we returned, those ten‑plus ships in the harbor were gone! Everyone on them… all died, their corpses floating on the sea, everywhere. Those bastards seized our cargo and took the ships away!"

"Later we tried to inform the other seven ships, but as soon as we set out to sea they sent troops after us; the brothers fought to the death to protect our three ships and fled, never daring to stop, and it took over two months to get back to Great Ming…"

When Zhou Da Hai finished, the hall fell into dead silence.

Zhu Yuanzhang's hand pressed on the imperial desk, his knuckles turning white.

"Twenty ships… six thousand men and horses… seventeen lost, over four thousand lives… lost?" Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice as Zhu Yong entered.

Zhou Da Hai kowtowed, pounding his head like crushing garlic, "Your Majesty! Every word I speak is true! Those bastards had been eyeing us for a long time! Champa and Java were colluding!

They split our fleet apart before striking!"

Zhu Biao inhaled deeply, turned his head toward Zhu Yong.

The two brothers locked eyes, each seeing the other's fury.

Zhu Yong walked up to Zhou Da Hai, crouched, and in a terrifyingly calm voice asked, "What you saw with your own eyes—are you certain it was Champa and Java behind it?"

"I saw it with my own eyes! The official who received us in Champa later showed up at the Java port, together with a Java general! They thought I wouldn't recognize, but I remember that face!"

Zhou Da Hai lifted his head and said.

Zhu Yong nodded, stood up, and turned toward Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Dad, I'm going too."

Just those three words, with no extra talk.

Xu Da stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this matter must be investigated thoroughly; if it truly was Champa and Java, it is a provocation against Great Ming!

If we do not respond in kind, the South Sea nations will think Great Ming is easy to bully in the future!"

Chang Yuchun added directly, "Your Majesty, I request battle! Bring thirty thousand troops to crush those barbarian petty states!"

Wang Baobao also said, "Your Majesty, when I was on the grassland I already knew these South Sea petty states are perpetually greedy and deceitful; without establishing authority, the trade routes will never find peace in the future."

Zhu Yuanzhang did not speak immediately, looking at Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao slowly opened his mouth: "Imperial Father, your son believes this matter is not merely revenge."

The people in the hall looked at him.

Zhu Biao walked to the hall, his voice calm: "If Champa and Java dare to act, they must have some backing. They think, because the South Sea is ten thousand li from Great Ming, we cannot reach them."

"Even if we sail there, a distant campaign would cost enormously and be unrewarding."

He paused, a cold glint flashing in his eyes: "They are wrong; precisely because it is far, we must strike, strike so they fear, so that for generations they dare not move Great Ming's merchant ships."

"Only then will the South Sea trade routes be free of obstruction."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "Zhu Biao, you are right. Then you tell us, how shall we attack?"

Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Yong and said: "Second brother, what do you think?"

Zhu Yong thought for a moment, a thoughtful expression appearing on his simple face, and said: "Elder brother, I think we must first find out how many troops they have, how many ships, and where their cities are."

"We cannot rush in blindly; if they are already prepared, we will suffer the loss."

Zhou Dahai hurriedly said: "Prince, I know that Java's port has two thousand soldiers and more than thirty warships; Champa's capital is at Lin'an City, with five thousand troops outside the city."

Java's royal city lies inland, called Manzhe Boyi; it is said to have over ten thousand troops, but they are all locals, their weapons are shabby, lacking even iron armor.

Zhu Yong looked at Zhu Yuanzhang: "Father, if that's the case, we don't need many men; five thousand Longxiang Army will suffice."

"Five thousand, Yong Er, that's two countries," Chang Yuchun exclaimed in surprise.

Zhu Yong nodded: "I know, but my Longxiang Army, each man equals a hundred of them; Flintlock Guns firing in unison, they cannot even get close."

When the cannon roars, the city walls crumble, and moreover…

He paused: "We have steamships; even against the wind we can sail, while their sailing ships cannot catch up."