The rise of the poor

Chapter 2187 Hidden Treasure Vault

With Tsukishima captured, the harvest is just around the corner.

In this battle, a total of 1,237 heads of Tsukishima pirates were taken. Apart from a small number of pirates who jumped into the sea and escaped, their fates unknown, the remaining Tsukishima pirates were all captured, totaling 1,053. Among them was the Tsukishima pirate chief Xu San.

In addition, 514 people who had been captured and brought to the island were rescued, most of whom were women, with fewer than 100 being men.

These people were captured and brought to the island. The women were forced to spin and weave during the day and were raped by the Japanese pirates at night. The men were treated as slaves, forced to do all kinds of dirty and hard work, and were often beaten and scolded. Their food consisted of leftovers. At first, there were more than 300 men, but most of them were beaten to death, worked to death, or died of illness. Now, only more than 80 men remain.

After being rescued, these people were so excited that they couldn't stop crying. Finally, they were finally rescued.

In addition, Zhu Pingan and Mao Haifeng's group also found a large amount of valuables, food and supplies on Moon Island.

Among them, there were more than two thousand taels of gold, twelve thousand taels of silver, and five bushels of jewels.

There were more than ten cartloads of cloth and silk, and another cartload of calligraphy, paintings and antiques.

The island also had a large stockpile of grain, totaling more than 18,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), with the granaries overflowing. There were also more than 300 jars of wine, as well as 8,000 jin (a unit of weight) of smoked fish and tens of thousands of jin (a unit of weight) of smoked and cured meat.

There were also many weapons and armor, including one hundred high-quality Japanese swords, thousands of broadswords and spears, one hundred and twenty sets of iron armor, two hundred and thirty sets of ponchos, one hundred and three muskets, and twenty-eight jars of ammunition.

The search also uncovered many of the items that Zhu Pingan was concerned about that were usurped. Among them was a letter of appointment dated a week ago and stamped with the seal of the Prince of Xu. Xu San had appointed many of his confidants to a series of inappropriate official titles, such as Left and Right Chief Secretaries of the Prince of Xu's Palace, Left and Right Ministers of the Prince of Xu's Palace, Left and Right Vice Ministers, Grand General of the Prince of Xu's Palace, Second General, Third General, Fourth General, and Fifth General. Two sets of dragon robes, two sets of phoenix robes, tableware with dragon and phoenix designs, and a jade-carved seal of the Prince of Xu were also found in Xu San's bedroom.

These things are enough to prove the legitimacy of Xu San's usurpation of the title of king.

“No, there’s too little gold and silver. They’ve been committing crimes along the coast for ten years. Murder and arson bring wealth, so there’s no way he only has this much gold and silver. Xu San must have a hidden treasure trove on the island.”

After examining the seized items, Mao Haifeng immediately noticed something amiss and strongly suspected that Xu San had a hidden treasure trove on the island.

“That bastard Xu San definitely has it. Many of the congratulatory gifts we sent them yesterday are not here.”

The Japanese pirate Black Dog stepped forward to report.

"Bring that bastard Xu San to me. I want to interrogate him myself. If he doesn't reveal the location of the treasure vault, I'll skin him alive!"

Mao Haifeng gave the order.

Soon, Xu San, who had been tied up like a pig, was carried over.

"Xu San, tell me honestly where your hidden treasure trove is, and you'll suffer less. Otherwise, I'll show you all eighteen kinds of torture, not one less, that's what I, Mao Haifeng, said."

Mao Haifeng squatted down in front of Xu San, grabbed his hair, pulled his head up, patted his face, and threatened him expressionlessly.

"I bother!"

Xu San took the opportunity to spit saliva all over Mao Haifeng's face.

"court death!"

Mao Haifeng was enraged when he was spat on, and he grabbed Xu San's face and slammed it heavily to the ground.

It smashed Xu San's face, leaving him covered in blood.

"Bring me my Japanese sword, I'll chop you into eight pieces!" Mao Haifeng ordered his Japanese sword to be brought over, intending to kill Xu San.

"General Mao, spare him. I still have a use for him." Zhu Ping'an was really worried that Mao Haifeng would kill Xu San in a fit of rage. He still wanted to send someone to escort Xu San to the capital to report his achievements. A living man is more valuable than a dead one.

"For Lord Zhu's sake, I'll spare your life!" Mao Haifeng ordered his men to lift up Xu San, whose face was covered in blood. He first spat a mouthful of phlegm at him, then took off his shoes and slapped him twice across the face with the soles of his shoes.

"Now, tell me your hidden treasure trove, and I'll make your suffering a little less. Otherwise, besides the torture that kills you, I have plenty more here to make sure you wish you were dead!" Mao Haifeng said with a sneer as he put on his shoes.

"My hidden treasure is for my son. If you call me 'Dad,' I'll tell you, hahaha."

Xu San laughed heartily, his face full of shamelessness.

"You're really asking for it!" Mao Haifeng was furious. He turned to Zhu Ping'an and asked for his opinion.

"As long as they don't kill them, it's fine." Zhu Pingan shrugged.

"Don't worry, Lord Zhu, he can't die even if he wants to!" Mao Haifeng assured him, clasping his hands in a gesture of respect.

Then, Mao Haifeng ordered Xu San to be dragged away and personally watched over him. He had Xu San tortured and forced him to reveal the whereabouts of the hidden treasure.

Soon, Xu San's chilling screams rang out from the other side, along with shouts of "Tell me or not!"

However, Xu San was truly a stubborn man. Perhaps knowing that Mao Haifeng wouldn't kill him, he endured one torture after another, such as having his fingers pinched, his flesh cut with a dagger, and being tortured with iron. Although his screams were extremely painful, he gritted his teeth and refused to reveal the location of the hidden treasure.

"Lord Zhu, that old bastard Xu San knows I won't kill him, so he's stubbornly refusing to say anything." A moment later, Mao Haifeng came out from inside, walked up to Zhu Ping'an, and said with a wry smile. Then he looked at Zhu Ping'an with hopeful eyes, "Lord Zhu, why don't you let me go all out? There are still many strongholds to be cleared out, and there are still big fish to catch."

"General Mao mainly wants to find out the location of the hidden treasure vault, right? That's easy enough. His hidden treasure vault must contain a lot of treasures. It can't be just Xu San carrying things in there by himself. Besides Xu San, there must be other Japanese pirates who know the location of the hidden treasure vault." Zhu Ping'an looked at Mao Haifeng and said slowly.

As he spoke, Zhu Ping'an took out the official documents that Xu San had "conferred" upon the officials of the Japanese pirates on Moon Island, pointed to the names on them and said, "These falsely appointed Left and Right Chief Secretaries, Left and Right Ministers, Left and Right Vice Ministers, hmm, hehe, there's even the position of Grand Steward. Let's see if these Japanese pirates are still alive. Interrogate them separately, especially this Grand Steward, there will definitely be some results."

Upon hearing this, Mao Haifeng's eyes lit up immediately. "As expected of Lord Zhu, does that mean these people are left to their fate, whether they live or die?"

"No matter life or death!"

Zhu Pingan nodded without hesitation. On either side were Japanese pirates who deserved to die. The sooner they died, the sooner the suffering people would be appeased.

"okay."

Mao Haifeng was so pleased that he ordered the Japanese pirates pointed out by Zhu Pingan to be selected from the prisoners and taken away for separate interrogation.

Of the Japanese pirates Zhu Pingan had just pointed out, half were dead, and the other half, who were alive, were all taken away by Mao Haifeng's men.

Immediately, screams of agony rose and fell.

Soon, less than a minute later, Mao Haifeng returned with a gleeful expression, carrying a thin Japanese pirate prisoner. "Just as Lord Zhu predicted, this guy revealed the location of Xu San's hidden treasure vault before we even had to interrogate him." (End of Chapter)