Rebirth of the Four Seas Emperor

The lobby of the Governor's Palace in Manila

Hou Yao signaled to Hu Zhiyi and Huang Xingdong that there was no need to be polite:

"You don't have to be so polite. You live overseas and you don't have to adhere to official rules."

Although Hou Yao appeared to be very easy-going, the two of them did not dare to be rude at all. Hu Zhiyi even kowtowed heavily and said:

"My lord and I have the gift of reincarnation. If it weren't for your guidance, the villain and the villain's youngest sister would probably not be able to escape this time."

Hou Yao helped Hu Zhiyi up:

"Well, it's all in the past. This is a disaster for all our Xia immigrants. This time the Spaniards dare to massacre the Xia people in Manila, and they will dare to massacre them elsewhere in the future. Once this trend cannot be curbed, our Xia country will How can immigrants survive overseas? So this time we must teach them a lesson they will never forget."

Huang Xingdong echoed:

"Master Hou is right, we Xia people must not be bullied by foreigners. Whoever dares to bully us must make them pay with blood."

Hu Zhiyi stood up and said:

"Yes, your lord is far-sighted and has long known that the barbarians are ambitious and hate us. If your lord had not arrived in time, the consequences would have been disastrous."

Hou Yao nodded, looked at the two people and said:

"Well, let's stop saying these flattering words. What are your plans next?"

Hu Zhiyi and Huang Xingdong looked at each other:

"Sir, we don't have any ideas, please teach us."

Hou Yao nodded and said:

"Well, that's fine. Let's do this. You first take all the immigrants from Daxia to the hometown of Luzon. It was destroyed by the Spanish before and build a new city. We'll talk about other things later."

Both of them looked strange, Hu Zhiyi said:

"Sir, the city of Manila..."

Hou Yao shook his head:

"The people's hearts here are broken. You need to clean them up, and then come back when they are clean."

The faces of the two people changed drastically. Everyone thought that the matter would end here, but unexpectedly Hou Yao had no intention of ending it.

Hou Yaoden ignored the surprised expressions of the two and continued:

"Huang Xingdong, I heard that you were also a daring and courageous Baihu before, right?"

Huang Xingdong clasped his fists and replied honestly:

"Thank you, sir. Compared with those people who live in corpse positions, I am indeed more serious and responsible, but compared to General Zhu Liang'ao, I am not as good as me."

Hou Yao smiled dryly on his face, mentioning Zhu Liang'ao, a young boy, was the pain in his heart forever.

"There is nothing to compare with him. If you are like this, I will give you a task. If you can complete it well in a year, then I can help you get pardon for all your past crimes, and you can also get the official title. Your original position..., no, I can promote you to the post of Chief Military Officer."

Huang Xingdong's face immediately showed an excited look, which shows that he still really wants to be an official:

"My lord has a destiny, but please tell me, this villain will do his best and will not give up even if he dies."

Hou Yao smiled and nodded:

"You don't have to fight to the death, just be cruel. Come here..."

Hou Yao whispered a few words in Huang Xingdong's ear. Huang Xingdong's expression changed again and again. He just felt that this gentle-looking Mr. Hou was too cruel.

Fortunately, fortunately he is from Daxia, otherwise it would be too terrible...

After Hou Yao finished talking to Huang Xingdong, he looked at Hu Zhiyi:

"Huang Xingdong will stay on Luzon Island to do some things for me. Hu Zhiyi, what are your plans?"

Hu Zhiyi shook his head:

"The villain's family has suffered a lot. Now he and Yaomei are dependent on each other, and he has not made any other plans."

Hou Yao nodded:

"You know Latin. I happen to be short of a talent like you. Are you willing to join my army?"

Hu Zhiyi's eyes suddenly shone, and he immediately wanted to kowtow again:

"I wish... I wish, I would like to thank you for taking me in..."

Hou Yao waved his hand to stop him and said:

"No need to be polite, you will join the Navy from now on. You can report to Zhou Tiesheng later and he will arrange it for you."

Hu Zhiyi once again handed over his hand and thanked:

"Thank you sir."

Hou Yao waved and smiled:

"You are one of our own, so there is no need to be polite. Oh, by the way, I want to ask you about a person. Have you ever heard of a master shipbuilder named Shen Zheng?"

Hu Zhiyi and Huang Xingdong looked at each other, then shook their heads together. Hu Zhiyi said:

"I grew up in Manila. There are not many people with the surname Shen in the city. Basically, I know them all. I don't think there is anyone named Shen Zheng in my mind. However, some people who have escaped may hide their names for various reasons. Sir What he said is calm, maybe his name has been changed. Why don't you tell me about this person's special appearance and how old he is. Maybe I can think of someone who is similar to him. If he is still alive, I can find him."

Wei Daxing only said that the person who could build the Manila galleon must be calm. As for other physical characteristics, Hou Yao did not ask, nor did he tell them.

Hou Yao couldn't help but frowned, thought for a while and said:

"I have never met this man, let alone know him. I don't even know how old he is, but he was the ambassador of the shipyard 30 or [-] years ago, so he must not be very young. As for his characteristics, there is someone It is said that only this man could have built the Manila Galleon.”

Hu Zhiyi suddenly realized:

"Has the person your Excellency is looking for been in Mara for many years?"

Hou Yao nodded:

"I guess it's been around for at least ten years, right? Maybe it's been around for 20 years."

Hu Zhiyi thought for a while and said:

"The person you are looking for is most likely Master Craftsman Zhao Mo. He is over 80 years old. He built the Manila Galleon. He cooperated with the Spanish to build ships more than 20 years ago. He came to the island more than ten years ago. He settled down, but he didn’t escape the massacre. When I went home from the dock, I had to pass by the shipyard and saw with my own eyes that he was killed by the indigenous people. Oh, by the way, he had a relative named Zhao Shizhen, who was from He came from Zhejiang. He fled with us after Master Zhao died, and he is now in the refugee team. If Master Zhao is the person you are looking for, Zhao Shizhen should know better."

"Oh, then go and find Zhao Shizhen. If Master Zhao is really calm, then I have an explanation for him."

"Yes, I will go back and ask Zhao Shizhen to come see my lord."

"Well, let's go."

Huang Guangdong also left with Hu Zhiyi:

"Sir, I'll take my leave first."

Hou Yao waved his hand, indicating that he could help himself.

Not long after, Hu Zhiyi came over with a middle-aged man in his thirties wearing a Confucian shirt.

"Sir, this is Zhao Shizhen."

Zhao Shizhen looked very weak. He walked up to Hou Yao and bowed his hand respectfully:

"Zhao Shizhen, the chief registrar of Xiaguan Honglu Temple, met with the magistrate of Hou County."

Unexpectedly, he was still an official.

The chief registrar of Honglu Temple is an eighth-grade imperial official. His appearance in Manila is really surprising. Hou Yao looked at Zhao Shizhen carefully:

"The chief secretary of Honglu Temple should be in the capital, right? How come he appears in Manila?"

Zhao Shizhen said:

"My lord, when the navy attacked the capital, my subordinates fled back to their hometown with the refugees after the city was broken. Forced to make a living, they thought of going to sea to join my grandfather. I didn't expect to encounter such a thing when I first arrived."

Hou Yao said:

"Take refuge with your grandfather? Is your grandfather called Shen Zheng?"

Zhao Shizhen hesitated for a few seconds, and then said:

"Sir, my grandfather is indeed called Shen Zheng. He escaped overseas incognito because he was owned by an enemy."

Hou Yao smiled and said:

"Oh, it's nothing. I am just entrusted by others. He and your grandfather are both teachers and friends. We only found your grandfather's identity through the Manila ship. We originally wanted to take him back, but since he Since the story is already dead, we can only do this."

Zhao Shizhen said with surprise:

"I wonder if you can tell me who is looking for my grandfather? As far as I know, my grandfather is lonely and has few friends."

Hou Yao said:

"His name is Wei Daxing. He used to work with your grandfather at Dongguan Captain."

Zhao Shizhen suddenly realized:

"It turns out to be Master Wei. No wonder. I wonder if your Excellency can tell me how Master Wei is doing now?"

Hou Yao nodded:

"He is now helping me run the Bao'an Shipyard. If Mr. Zhao is interested, he can also go to the shipyard to work. Now that the state is in a state of exhaustion, the court may not be able to settle down for a while, and Mr. Zhao also has to make plans for himself."

Zhao Shizhen's face turned red and he said:

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't know how to build a ship."

Hou Yao smiled awkwardly, and then realized that he had taken it for granted. He thought that Zhao Shizhen must be a shipbuilder when he came to join his grandfather. It seemed that he was wrong.

"Oh, that's it. I wonder what you are good at? I have many industries, but they are all pretty good."

Zhao Shizhen looked at Hou Yao for a long time, looking like he was hesitant to speak.

Hou Yao was a little strange:

"Why is Chief Zhao doing this? If you have any questions, just speak up."

Zhao Shizhen gritted his teeth and said:

"Sir, please forgive me for being bold."

Hou Yao waved his hand with a smile and said:

"Master Zhao, please feel free to speak out, but I will never blame you for what you say."

Zhao Shizhen then boldly said:

"My official loves firearms. He likes to observe and improve some existing firearms and equipment. I heard that Mr. Hou is a firearms master and invented a musket called a flintlock gun. It is the most powerful firearm in the world. I wonder if you can let me know. Want to know it?"

Hou Yao was slightly surprised. He didn't expect that Zhao Shizhen was also a master of firearms. This was really true. Could it be that he had found a treasure?

"Yes, Mr. Zhao is interested, and I have nothing to hide."

As he spoke, he waved and called a guard over.

"Show Master Zhao your gun."

"Yes."

The guard handed the flintlock gun in his hand to Zhao Shizhen.

Zhao Shizhen looked excited, took the flintlock gun with trembling hands, and his eyes seemed to shine.

Then he turned it over in his hand and looked at it carefully several times, and kept muttering:

"What a good gun, what a good gun, what a craft, what a craft..., good..., good..."

After looking at it for a long time, Zhao Shizhen finally saw the barrel of the gun and shouted in surprise:

"This... this gun barrel, how could... how could it be a molding technique? Isn't it the only gun barrel that can be molded?"

After Hou Yao heard Zhao Shizhen's exclamation, he burst into laughter. He knew that he had really found a treasure:

"You can see the craftsmanship of the gun barrel just by looking at it with the naked eye. I see that Mr. Zhao is really a firearms expert. In that case, how about joining my firearms manufacturing factory?"

"Thank you for your love, sir. I am willing..."