Haining looked down at Lushun Bay in front of him and sighed to Li Zhien behind him:
"Sigh... To be honest, Sir, I don't want to lead my fleet to leave this harbor now. By then, no matter which side I go to, it will be far better than staying in this stagnant water. But now there is a dilemma... The first is
The imperial court has now sent an imperial envoy to take this commander to
My wife, children, and children have all looked at me. If this commander does something wrong, the lives of my whole family will be in danger! Secondly, even if this commander really surrenders to the Ming Dynasty, what future will he have? I think, apart from getting a sum of money from the Ming Dynasty,
In exchange for the reward, I’m afraid I’ll just be an apartment owner!”
Li Zhien pondered for a moment and smiled:
"Commander, I don't know the details about this first difficulty, so I dare not give you any advice. However... if it were me, with tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in my hands, I probably wouldn't take those mere hundred or ten people seriously.
The Qing Dynasty has already reached this level. Which minister would be willing to accompany the Qing Dynasty to death just for the emperor’s order? He
They have surrounded your residence, but don’t they want to live?...Haha, of course, if the commander feels that he is really unsure, our Ming Dynasty is willing to help. Send a small team of commandos to capture those hundreds of people.
Soldier, it is not difficult to rescue your family. As long as you are willing to arrange for your subordinates to cooperate with us on the outside.
"The second difficulty, haha, let's put it this way, no matter which side you belong to, you are destined to be a housekeeper. But if you go to Japan to become a housekeeper, you must be mentally prepared. The kind of job you have is because you don't understand the language and can't read.
I can't read newspapers, listen to the radio, watch movies, or make friends. I have to bring a translator everywhere I go. I can't accomplish anything. I have no fun in my old age and am depressed all my life. It's like living in an apartment under house arrest.
"But what if we come to our Ming Dynasty? You will be a real apartment house, free, comfortable, well-informed, and enjoy the great convenience of living among your compatriots. Moreover, you can be a truly wealthy apartment house in Daming.
.we give big
His reward is 400,000 U.S. dollars, a title of Viscount, and an annuity of 50,000 Mingyang. This is enough for you to enjoy a luxurious life of fine clothing and food for the rest of your life. I don’t know how much Japan has promised you... Haha, but I can imagine, I’m afraid.
Much less, right?"
Haining smiled faintly:
"To be honest, it's not a huge disparity, otherwise I wouldn't be so hesitant... Oh, I can even reveal the figure. What Japan promised me was exactly 400,000 US dollars, but there was no knighthood or annuity.
However, it is very convenient to go to Japan, as long as you sit in
Just wait here. But to defect to the Ming Dynasty, I have to sail out the fleet and escape death. That’s why I hesitate! Oh, how can I put it... I don’t dare to open my mouth, as long as the Ming Dynasty can agree to give me this number.
1.5 times, which is 600,000 US dollars..."
He stretched out his arm, made a circle towards the warship in the distance, and said:
"Then these warships in the harbor belong to the Ming Dynasty."
Seeing Li Zhien smiling and saying nothing, he added:
"For only $600,000, which is less than half the cost of a destroyer, you can get three cruisers, eight destroyers, plus dozens of torpedo boats, patrol boats, minesweepers and other auxiliary vessels. Haha, what if
I'm willing to spend 6 million, not to mention 600,000."
…
Suddenly, a voice came from the office through the glass door of the balcony:
"My lord, my lord..."
Haining turned around and saw his adjutant knocking on the glass door, as if he had something urgent to say. He nodded to Li Zhien and said:
"Oh, please wait a moment, sir."
As he spoke, he opened the glass door of the balcony and entered his large office. The adjutant whispered a few words to him. Haining frowned and said:
"What's going on? Then bring it in."
The adjutant called out to the door, and two Qing soldiers escorted Xu Xiangde in.
Xu Xiangde's hands were covered with blood, and he looked carefree and indifferent. When he saw Haining, he laughed and nodded:
"I've met my lord."
Haining stared at the blood on his hands and frowned:
"Mr. Xu, what's going on?"
Li Zhien also came in and was shocked to see Xu Xiangde like this:
"Brother Xu, what's going on?"
Xu Xiangde reached out and dug into his pocket. The adjutant shouted:
"Ah! Don't move!!"
Two Qing soldiers immediately twisted Xu Xiangde's arms and prevented him from picking his pockets.
Xu Xiangde smiled and said:
"What are you afraid of? My gun has been disarmed by these two brothers. Forget it, brother adjutant, please reach out and take out the small cloth bag in my left pocket."
The adjutant stared at him suspiciously, walked over slowly, and slowly put his hand into his left pocket. He grabbed it and felt something strange in his hand, so he took it out.
This is a small cloth bag, wrapped in several layers. The adjutant took it in his hand and opened it. When he opened it to the second layer, he saw that the cloth bag turned dark red. When he opened it to the third layer...
The adjutant froze immediately, staring directly at the thing in his palm. Slowly, his face turned pale.
He swallowed and touched it with trembling fingers. The feel told him that this thing was real. It was 100% authentic.
With a howl, the adjutant threw the things in his hands far away, then held on to the table and breathed heavily.
…
Haining was startled by the adjutant's movement. He became angry and shouted:
"What's going on! What on earth is it?"
The adjutant said tremblingly:
"Ears... ears... ears..."
"Ears? What ears!"
"Ears!!!"
A Qing soldier had slowly picked up the two ears from the corner, held them in a cloth bag, and slowly held them in front of Haining with trembling hands.
Haining's eyes were staring straight at his ears, almost popping out of his head.
He gasped and waved his hand, and the Qing soldier quickly threw his ear into the corner. Haining grabbed the tea cup and took a big sip, then raised his head, stared at Xu Xiangde and Li Zhien fiercely, and shouted:
"Whose ears are these!!!"
Li Zhien's face also turned pale. He stared at the ear in the corner and then at Xu Xiangde, slowly guessing some clues. But he still stared at Xu Xiangde in disbelief, not believing that he could really do it.
Xu Xiangde said with a smile:
"Commander, these are Mr. Ikeda's ears."
Haining opened her mouth and stared straight at him, with only the sound of "Hang" coming out of her throat.
Li Zhien also swallowed his saliva and asked Xu Xiangde dryly:
"You...you killed Shigeru Ikeda?"
"I didn't kill him," Xu Xiangde picked up a cup of tea on the table and drank it, then said with a smile, "I originally wanted to kill him, but then I softened my heart, so I just cut off two ears. Now he is still humming in the room.
Woolen cloth."
Haining sat down on the chair, dumbfounded.
"Hurry... go quickly..." he waved his hand and said weakly, "go and see Mr. Ikeda..."
The adjutant quickly ordered two Qing soldiers to watch here, and then he ran to the guest house.
…
Li Zhien rolled his eyes and probably figured it out.
He sighed, pointed at Xu Xiangde and cursed:
"Brother Xu! How could you do such a thing! What on earth are you thinking! You...how do you ask Mr. Ning to explain to the Japanese!"
Ning Hai still hoped that Xu Xiangde was bluffing him, but as soon as Li Zhien said this, he immediately understood: ...these two people are trying to make it impossible for me to explain to the Japanese, and they are trying to stop me from thinking about defecting to Japan.
ah!
He lowered his head, gritted his teeth, grabbed the teacup tightly, yelled, and smashed the teacup to pieces.
Then he opened the drawer, took out the pistol, pulled the bolt, stood up and faced Xu Xiangde and Li Zhien, gritting his teeth and said:
"Damn... you two have gone too far!"
Although Li Zhien didn't know about it beforehand, he couldn't point at Xu Xiangde and say, "He did it all, I don't know anything." No matter what Xu Xiangde did, Li Zhien had to admit it.
Li Zhien looked at the muzzle of the gun, took a deep breath, calmed down his nervousness, and smiled kindly:
"Commander, please calm down, but don't pull the trigger... The Japanese envoy has lost his ears. If the Commander kills us again now, then... I'm afraid you can only sink the warship according to the order, and then return to Beijing empty-handed to give you to the commander."
He was buried with the Qing court."
Ning Hai smiled ferociously and said:
"The ears of the Japanese envoy were cut off by you, but his mouth is still there! As long as he is not dead, he will tell the truth to the Japanese! I can tie you up and hand it over to the Japanese!"
Li Zhien smiled and said:
"I'm afraid your thoughts are too simplistic, right? The Japanese government has always been stingy and would like to break every penny in half and spend it. Now that there is a good opportunity to save hundreds of thousands of dollars, why don't you seize it? What if I
The Japanese will first
Take over the Port Arthur fleet, and then ask Shigeru Ikeda to change his story and say that your commander ordered his ears to be cut off in order to please the Ming Dynasty. This way, you don’t have to pay your Majesty. Moreover, I am afraid that I will also be killed by the Japanese.
It’s a ghost.”
Ning Hai was stunned and felt a little guilty, but he still sneered:
"Do you think Shigeru Ikeda is a fool? His own ears were cut off, so he just says whatever he is told?"
Li Zhien smiled and said:
"My lord, don't forget, he is a Japanese. If the Japanese want to serve the country, they can even risk their lives, let alone a pair of ears."
Xu Xiangde also sneered:
"Adults, you can also think about it. Even if the Japanese didn't bite you, they gave you hundreds of thousands of dollars. Do you think this matter is over? The dignified envoy of the Japanese Empire was cut off on your territory.
How long can they endure the humiliation of losing two ears? With the arrogance of Japanese soldiers, do you think you can still live in peace and harmony in Japan?"
Li Zhien followed again:
"Your Excellency should also know how ruthless those people are... they can even kill the prime minister and ministers of their own country."
Ning Hai gasped and just stared at them, unable to say a word.
…
The adjutant opened the door and came in, panting and saying:
"Sir...Mr. Ikeda...is dead."
Ning Hai slowly lowered his pistol and fell into his chair dejectedly.
"Dead?" Xu Xiangde said, "...Oh, maybe my last kick was too hard. However, if a person is dead, you can't tell me clearly."
Li Zhien looked at Ning Hai and said sincerely:
"Commander, please make plans early. As long as you can lead your troops to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, you will not only have a lifetime of glory, but also be a major contributor to the recovery of China! As long as you are determined to accomplish this righteous move, the Ming Dynasty is willing to fully assist you!"
…
At this time, several senior officers from outside broke in and said in a panic:
"Sir... Lord Commander..."
Ning Hai was stunned, raised his head and said:
"Why are they all running in? What's going on? Tell me one by one!"
A colonel staff officer said in horror:
"Sir... No, sir, there has been a mutiny in the harbor... The sailors have rebelled..."
"What?!"
Another lieutenant colonel also gasped and pointed outside:
"Sir, please come to the balcony and have a look!"
Ning Hai kicked off the chair, strode to the large balcony, climbed on the railing and looked into the distance, looked for a moment and said:
"Where's the mutiny? There's no movement... Well, bring me my binoculars!"
A large naval telescope was immediately handed over from behind. Haining looked over at the military port with the telescope, and his body suddenly froze.
It was like a boiling pot was boiling on the pier, densely packed with sailors like ants. The sailors were chasing and beating a few military policemen, as well as senior officers. Many military policemen were beaten until they were lying on the ground, and some officers were also beaten.
Thrown into the water.
Haining was furious and muttered:
...Why don't you shoot, why don't you shoot!
But soon, he understood why the military police did not dare to shoot.
The three main warships have all untied their moorings and are slowly sailing away from the slipway and onto the sea in the harbor. The warships are also covered with sailors. The sailors are making noises, dancing and shouting something on the warships.
The main guns of the two cruisers had turned to one side and were aimed at the shore. The muzzle of the other cruiser was turning and finally stopped.
Haining's eyes suddenly widened. He saw that several main guns of the third cruiser were pointed in the direction of his headquarters.
His chest was heaving and he was breathing heavily. Suddenly he dropped the binoculars, turned around and asked:
"What do they want? Huh? What do they want?"
The colonel staff officer said:
"My lord, they said... they said that my lord took money from the Japanese and wanted to sell the entire fleet to the Japanese..."
Another officer also added:
"They said that the Japanese want no one on the ship, and they will kill all the prisoners without leaving any survivors. They said that if you really want to surrender to the Japanese, then... then you must bombard the headquarters and kill them all..."
The phone outside suddenly rang. The adjutant ran out to answer the phone. After a while, he ran in again and said in horror:
"Sir, the mutiny has spread to Laotieshan Fortress and East Jiguanshan Fortress!"
Li Zhien quickly said loudly:
"Your Majesty Commander! These two fortress cannons are eyeing the entire military port and urban area, but now they are in the hands of those rebels! As time goes by, they can do anything! Sir, make up your mind quickly, we can't delay it any longer!"
A room full of Qing army officers stared at Li Zhien, and someone asked:
"Sir, who is this?"
Haining waved his hands and said in a daze:
"This is... this is my person... Sanbao, prepare the car. I will go to the studio with these two gentlemen... and the senior officers of the entire fleet... I want to speak to the entire fleet..."
"嗻!"
Haining turned around again and said weakly to Li Zhien and Xu Xiangde:
"Please... please put on your military uniforms, and then we will go to the pier... and please say a few words to the brothers on the pier to testify for someone in our country..."
"Excuse me, sir, what do you want me and the two to prove?"
"Prove that I...I decided to lead the fleet to defect to the Ming Dynasty."
Li Zhien and Xu Xiangde smiled at each other and said:
"It's a pleasure."
A big stone finally fell to the ground in their hearts.
In the entire commander's office, a room full of senior officers of the Qing army were all stunned.