The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 663 The Tracking Begins

The emperor roared madly, and Wei Zhongxian lay on the ground without saying a word, only letting out a series of hoarse, miserable laughs.

"Your Majesty is right. I should die. The Ming Dynasty will ultimately belong to the Zhu family. But Your Majesty should think about how I rose to power. Power should only be held by one person. Your Majesty should not let Lord Chen become the second one."

Wei Zhongxian's words were truly meant to sow discord between the Emperor and Chen Er. The Emperor frowned and angrily said, "At a time like this, he still wants to sow discord among the people! Quickly drag him out and behead him!"

Imperial guards pulled Wei Zhongxian away. Wei Zhongxian turned his head to look at Chen Er, a sinister smile on his face: "Lord Chen, don't follow in my footsteps, and don't even think about ascending the throne and becoming emperor, hahaha."

The Emperor glared at Wei Zhongxian, then a warm smile spread across his face as he looked at Chen Er.

"Chen Er, you have made a great contribution this time. I really don't know how to reward you. How about I make you a king? Don't refuse. This is what you deserve."

"Thank you for your reward, Your Majesty. In order to capture Wei Zhongxian, I have neglected many family matters. Please allow me to go home and deal with them," Chen Er said respectfully, already harboring thoughts of leaving the court.

"Indeed, you neglected your family affairs for the sake of me and the court. Now that the matter is resolved, it is only right that you return to handle it. Go back first, and the reward will be sent to your home later."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I take my leave now." Chen Er bowed and turned to leave the palace.

When Chen Er returned home, Qin Luoshen and Zheng Yuqing greeted him.

Chen Er glanced at Zheng Yuqing in surprise. Zheng Yuqing lowered her head shyly. Qin Luoshen smiled and said, "What are you looking at? I'm making Yuqing your little wife. From now on, Yuqing will be my sister."

"Forget it, let's pack our things and leave. The imperial court is not a place for me to stay. Let's be free in the martial world."

Chen Er hurriedly packed his things, leaving a letter for the Emperor on the table. Then, he took Qin Luoshen and Zheng Yuqing, got into the carriage, and spurred the horses to leave the capital.

"My lord, you haven't said whether you'll marry Yuqing or not yet. You should give Yuqing a definite answer." Qin Luoshen said sweetly from the carriage, while Zheng Yuqing blushed.

"I'll marry you both! From now on, we'll only envy the lovebirds, not the immortals! Hahaha!" Chen Er laughed as he drove the carriage, and soon they were out of the capital.

The letter left by Chen Er quickly reached the emperor's hands.

After reading it, the Emperor remained silent for a long time before saying, "Chen Er is truly an unparalleled national hero. I was too petty. I hope he is well in the martial world. I will definitely govern the Ming Dynasty well and live up to his expectations."

……

The 20th day of the first lunar month was the day Chen Er got married.

In wealthy families, the wedding procession doesn't require the wedding attendant to worry about anything. The house is prepared in advance, and the wedding ceremony is arranged by the steward Li Dan and his wife Yan Siqi, whom they recruit after leaving the court. It seems that Chen Er only needs to send someone and that's all that's needed.

Indeed, Chen Er only provided personnel, and there were people to guide him in everything. He just had to follow along. Fortunately, in this era, there was no need to take wedding photos or get up at 4:30 in the morning to pick up the bride.

For a wedding ceremony, the ceremony should be held at dusk. The bride should be brought home before noon according to the auspicious time. No geomancer would calculate the auspicious time to be 4 a.m.

Marriage is an important moment in life in any era, especially in feudal society, because in feudal society, a man was only considered a true adult when he got married.

Besides, Chen Er of the Ming Dynasty was an unparalleled national hero. How could his wedding not be grand?

At this time, the daimyo of the Ming Dynasty did not come in person, but they all sent important retainers with gifts.

This was something Chen Er hadn't expected. He had already left the court, so how could so many people know that he was here?

……

After that, Chen Er was carried back to the bedroom.

Having left the imperial court, he lived a secluded and ordinary life here. He originally wanted to live a low-key life, but the emperor did not seem to grant his wish.

He had also heard about the recent state of affairs in the Ming Dynasty, but it seemed to have been a disastrous defeat.

That's why he had no choice but to ask Chen Er for advice, and the emperor granted him whatever his request was...

After seeing off the few trusted confidants sent by the Emperor, the four of them began to plan their next move.

It wasn't until they gathered that they realized how many men the merchants had. When they tallied up the number of men they could fight, they were astonished to find over 12,000.

Since these people are to be incorporated into the navy, they need to be reorganized and training should begin as soon as possible.

Nagasaki is too conspicuous. There are thirty or forty daimyo in the Ming Dynasty alone. It is also the only officially permitted port for foreign trade in Japan. It is not suitable for large gatherings of people.

Hirado was undoubtedly the best place, and most of Li Dan's armed forces stayed in Hirado during the winter. Although there were three or four thousand more people, they could still squeeze in.

Xu Xinsu stayed in Nagasaki to integrate the newly established institutions, while Li Dan and Yan Siqi followed Chen Er back to Hirado to train troops. They were also eager to see how Chen Er trained his troops.

On the 25th of the first month, Chen Er set off for Hirado. Dong Xian had already led his fleet back to Hirado to prepare. In recent days, there has been a steady stream of ships heading to Hirado.

Twelve ships in Chen Er's fleet had been modified, including those with pulley systems for raising and lowering sails, and those with steering bearings installed on the sails.

Now, a 3000-ton boat like this can be operated relatively easily by 12 people.

When Chen Er left Quanzhou, a batch of gray iron cannons that had been cast had already been loaded onto the ship, along with fifteen cannons that had been drilled out.

They arrived fully loaded, and although these 8-10 jin cannons had been test-fired on land, they had not yet been fired at sea.

Looking at Chen Er's flagship, Li Dan and Yan Siqi were both quite impressed. They had never imagined that twelve or thirteen people could operate such a large ship.

This ship was also equipped with twelve cannons, five on each side and one at the bow and stern. This was the disadvantage of Fujian ships: without a continuous deck, cannons could not be placed inside the cabins, and now the cannons were placed on the deck.

Two target ships were brought along, and three days after leaving Nagasaki, the target practice operation commanded by Chen Er began.

"Enemy ship is 100 meters away. Raise the gun muzzle by one notch and use two jin and one mace of gunpowder..."

"Muzzle raised... Artillery ready."

"Attention all gun positions, fire in sequence from gun number one to number five, ready...fire."

Thump, thump, thump... The five cannons fired in quick succession, followed by a cloud of smoke. However, the strong winds at sea quickly dispersed the smoke.

At this time, a number of people were standing on the decks of the ship at the bow and stern, each holding a monocular scope and looking in the direction of the target ship.

Because of the preparations, the trajectories of four projectiles were tracked, while the whereabouts of the third remain unknown.