owlsbooks Chapter 319: Yang Kang, the Japanese Pirate
Chapter 319: Yang Kang, the Japanese Pirate
"Greetings, Master Li."
Li Ping looked at the person in front of him and smiled: "Young Prince, what brings you here?"
Upon arriving here, he went straight to find the person in charge of the General Affairs Department in this area, but unexpectedly it turned out to be Yang Kang.
Yang Kang quickly waved his hand and said righteously, "Your Highness, I dare not accept such praise. I was unaware of my own origins before, which is why I recognized a thief as my father."
"I am a Han Chinese, not a Jurchen."
"I'm just a small team leader in the General Affairs Division right now; I was only recently transferred here."
The young prince certainly has a very flexible identity.
The ability to switch between Han and Jurchen characters at any time...
Li Ping was still somewhat surprised: "What happened here? Does the Command Center need to send you here to oversee things?"
Yang Kang received Wu Yazi's teachings and learned the unique skills of the Xiaoyao Sect. He has made progress in recent days. Even though the Tongkuo Division has recruited many powerful extraordinary individuals, he is at least in the second tier.
Is it necessary to send them to such a remote place?
Qingdao is now just a village, belonging to Jimo!
Yang Kang said, "Japanese pirates..."
Li Ping was taken aback: "Japanese pirates? Why?"
In his mind, Japanese pirates were concentrated in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang area because Ningbo was a legitimate tributary port.
He had never really heard of Japanese pirates in Qingdao.
Yang Kang's expression hardened: "Master Li, you don't know? The Shandong coast is where the Japanese pirates are most rampant! Jimo, Laizhou, and Dengzhou have been plundered by the Japanese pirates many times."
"The Aoshanwei, Fushansuo, and Xiongyasuo here were all built to defend against Japanese pirates."
"Moreover, a natural disaster has also occurred on the Japanese side. Master Li should know what a natural disaster looks like. According to those Japanese pirates, they have already discovered the natural disaster, and it will soon befall Japan."
"Many Japanese have begun to flee. They weren't envoys and couldn't land in Ningbo, so many have come here!"
"That's why these Japanese pirates have become increasingly rampant lately!"
Li Ping asked, "What did the imperial court say?"
Yang Kang clasped his hands in a fist salute towards the capital: "His Majesty said that if they are not allowed to enter the country, those Japanese will have no way to survive and will definitely fight the Ming Dynasty to the death."
"Why not do what we did in the Western Regions and the grasslands, as long as they accept the registration of households and change their customs..."
Li Ping snorted coldly: "Everyone else can, but they can't."
Yang Kang had heard rumors about Li Ping, who had fought to the death with the Japanese pirates from the very beginning of his career, clearly indicating that he had a deep grudge against them.
But this is something that can't be decided by me alone, nor by Li Ping; it has to be decided by His Majesty.
Yang Kang continued, "Anyway, that's why there are so many Japanese pirates here, and even many skilled ones. The army doesn't have many skilled fighters, so the Commandery came to provide support!"
"It's said that a master of the grasslands has appeared here before..."
Li Ping raised an eyebrow: "The grasslands? Pang Ban wants to contact the Japanese pirates?"
He thought about it and felt it was only natural.
The Tatars are now far weaker than the Ming Dynasty and have just suffered a major defeat, with their royal court being destroyed.
Even the strongest man cannot create something out of nothing.
He couldn't expect to conquer the Central Plains by himself, so it was normal for him to contact the Japanese pirates and seek foreign aid.
Li Ping narrowed his eyes slightly: "Is there any news about those experts from the grasslands?"
Yang Kang shook his head: "They've gone out to sea, but I don't know exactly where they went!"
Li Ping: "What about the Japanese pirates? Do you know where they are?"
Yang Kang nodded: "I do know two places to stay..."
Li Ping smiled: "Tell me their whereabouts. Also, tell me all the information about Huang Yaoshi."
Yang Kang said, "The last time Elder Huang appeared was in Qingdao Village, and no one has seen him since. He most likely went to sea..."
Li Ping frowned. Go to sea?
Since natural disasters have occurred in the south, north, and west, isn't it normal for them to occur in the east as well?
Hey, my dear father-in-law, what are you planning to do at this time of year?
Forget it, let's find the Japanese pirates first...
They came from the sea, so they might know some intelligence.
Li Ping continued, "Has anything unusual happened at sea?"
Yang Kang shook his head: "I haven't heard of that before..."
You don't know this, you don't know that, what are you even good for?
……
Izumi Ichiro looked at the woman in front of him, and he was initially very dissatisfied.
He had heard of Pang Ban's great name and knew how powerful he was, but for Pang Ban to actually send a woman to contact him was simply blatant contempt.
However, after exchanging a couple of blows with the expert beside the woman, he no longer felt this way.
In his time, apart from the Grand Master Suigetsu, no one in Japan could match him in ten rounds.
However, the fact that the two experts beside this woman were able to hold their own against him showed that Pang Ban was indeed powerful.
He said, "We have already heard the news. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty said that as long as we are willing to register as commoners and accept Sinicization, he is willing to accept us."
"The Ming Dynasty is protected by immortals and is immune to natural disasters. Why should we help you?"
"The Mongols and the Yuan dynasty have a deep-seated hatred for us."
The woman laughed and said, "Brother Quan, why bother? If you were willing to accept the Central Plains Emperor's conditions, why would you be willing to see me?"
"Furthermore, if they are registered as ordinary citizens and assimilated into Chinese culture, will the Japanese still be Japanese from then on?"
"Can your emperor still be called an emperor?"
Izumi Ichiro smiled slightly. Whether they were from the Central Plains or the grasslands, they knew nothing about our great Japan.
I am a member of the Shogunate, not the Emperor.
But it doesn't matter. Natural disasters seem destined to engulf Japan, and we must come to the Central Plains.
Whether one chooses to serve the emperor of the Ming Dynasty or Pang Ban of the grasslands is irrelevant.
The important thing is who is stronger and who will win!
We only side with the winners!
At that moment, all four of them were stunned.
This small island was only a dozen miles in circumference, and because they were worried about an attack by the Ming army, they guarded it very tightly.
But they had just sensed that the presence of the people stationed outside was rapidly disappearing.
The woman frowned and asked, "An enemy attack?"
Izumi Ichiro shook his head: "Impossible. If it's an enemy attack, they'll send a signal immediately!"
Yup!
Can't everyone just die in an instant?
With so many signs of life, how could they not issue a warning?
Something's not right.
The four men ran wildly towards the sea. Soon, they arrived at the scene of the incident, only to find their men fighting each other.
Enraged, Izumi Ichiro drew his sword and slashed at the man beside him.
The man was also furious and was about to swing his copper hammer...
At that moment, the woman slashed out with her sword, actually blocking Izumi Ichiro's attack.
She said softly, "Brother Quan, you see, it's not just us fighting with your people, our own people are fighting each other too."
Izumi Ichiro looked closely and saw that it was indeed so.
The grassland people and the Japanese were fighting each other, and the grassland people and the Japanese were also fighting each other!
He felt a chill run down his spine. How could this be?
Are you possessed by an evil spirit?
Not only him, but the other three were also sweating profusely!
Just then, a voice rang out behind them: "You came quickly, and your martial arts seem quite good..."
The four were shocked and rushed towards the source of the sound!
The woman's sword light wove a fine net of swords, with swords chiming and extremely resilient, and at the same time, it was beautiful and magnificent, like a silver river descending from the sky!
Izumi Ichiro flashed forward, taking mysterious steps, raising his Japanese sword high above his head, drawing a mysterious arc, and with each step, his aura grew stronger.
Compared to him, Wuhua's Japanese swordsmanship was like children playing house.
The other two, one of them wielded two copper hammers, one light and one heavy, one as heavy as a mountain and the other as light as a feather. The simultaneous use of light and heavy hammers was extremely skillful.
The last one was the simplest; with a single palm strike, a brilliant purple light shone from his eyes…
Each of these four individuals was comparable to a master on the Black List. They were confident that even if the attacker was Pang Ban, he would have to temporarily retreat in the face of such a combined attack...