The Dutch Captain looked at Alna and said with a serious expression, "We have lost contact with the Governor. There must have been a problem in Taiwan, we must head to Taiwan as quickly as possible to deal with these issues."
Alna asked subconsciously, "If you leave, what will happen to us?"
The Dutch Captain looked at him coldly and said, "Taiwan is more important, not to mention we haven't even seen the things you promised."
The Qing Army had promised back then to give them all the ports in the Fujian area, but now they were still very far from there!
Alna immediately said, "Our promise is, of course, valid, the Regent said that as long as you can provide more Red-coated Cannons, the ports of Yangzhou and Suzhou can also be given to you; not only that, but Yangzhou and Suzhou can also be given to you."
The Dutch Captain felt a stir in his heart upon hearing this; he was already very familiar with the maps of this land, Yangzhou and Suzhou were indeed closer to here.
After that moment of excitement, he could only sigh and say, "Guan, it's not that I don't want to, but I cannot contact the Governor General right now; I must return to reinforce Taiwan."
Alna asked, "Is it necessary?"
The Dutch Captain nodded. "Yes, it is necessary."
Alna nodded slowly and approached the Dutch Captain, saying, "Fine."
After speaking, he instantly drew the scimitar from his waist and swung it toward the Dutch Captain's neck.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Alna hasn't killed many people either, yet I never hear anyone cursing him. Why are they cursing me? People really bully honest folk these days. Kitty rubs its face in grievance. jpg
Next update at 6 PM~
Chapter 192
The Dutch Captain collapsed, clutching his neck in terror; he hadn't even realized why Alna would kill him.
Alna sheathed his blade, turned to call an attendant inside to whisper a few words in his ear, before long, a massive fire erupted in the Dutch camp, everyone who rushed out of their tents was swept back by birdlock guns.
Alna stood outside watching the Dutch being engulfed by the great fire, while the guard beside him asked cautiously, "E Zhen, what do we do next?"
The fire in the Dutch military camp cannot be hidden; the authorities will certainly inquire about it.
Alna sighed and said, "What else can be done? Of course, we must report it to the superiors. The Dutch were being double-dealing, attempting to betray us, I only resorted to this desperate measure because I discovered their conflict in a moment of urgency."
The guard opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing.
Fine, you're the boss, so you decide. Anyway, if the higher-ups demand accountability, it's that mercurial Jala E Zhen who will take the fall.
Alna's explanation might not have been flawless, but he had long since pledged his allegiance to Jirgalang.
Therefore, even though Jirgalang had his doubts about him, when Dodo wanted to capture him for questioning, Jirgalang still protected him once.
Actually, none of the people currently in Xuzhou, including Alna, want to defect.
He truly wanted to rely on the Empress Dowager.
After all, the Empress Dowager would be the true winner in the end. The Emperor is still young; in another ten or twenty years, directly siding with the Third Prince Xuanye would be the safest bet.
It was a pity that he could not even see Regent Dorgon right now; of course, even if he could see him, he would not want to have too many connections with him. What if he were to be purged when the time came?
While Alna was kneeling on the ground and lost in thought, the Regent Dorgon arrived upon hearing the commotion.
Because of his arrival, Jirgalang and Dodo, who had already begun arguing, were forced to cease their hostilities.
Dorgon sat composedly in the seat of honor. Without even glancing at Alna, he asked directly, "What is the cause of this commotion?"
Dodo, relying on his relationship with Dorgon, paid his respects and immediately proceeded to embellish the matter.
Only then did Dorgon look at Alna kneeling on the ground. "Are you the one who has been in contact with those Red-haired Barbarians?"
Alna immediately bowed with extreme alertness and said, "Reporting to the Regent, it is I, your subordinate."
“You say they want to cooperate with the Ming Kingdom?”
Alna said, "Yes, I was originally ordered to meet with the Dutch Captain, but upon arriving, I discovered that many of their men were missing and some of their supplies were gone. I asked a few questions; the Dutch Captain was hiding something at first, I didn't notice anything unusual, but later he refused my request, which made me suspicious. After I pressed him with a few more questions, he let it slip. In a fit of rage, he even tried to kill me to silence me, so I had no choice but to call for men to detain them."
Alna had carefully weighed these words, omitting certain details, as being too specific could easily lead to loopholes; regardless, it was true that the Dutch military had attempted to withdraw without notifying them, it was also true that they had loaded the goods onto the ships.
Although he had wiped out the Dutch Captain along with the people in the military camp, he did not touch the Dutch ships.
The Dutch supplies and some of the soldiers were still on the ship. As for whether those people would expose him.. currently, he was the only one in the Great Qing who could communicate with the Dutch, so what was there to fear?
Dorgon did not speak immediately after hearing this; instead, he looked at Alna with a heavy gaze, only after a long silence did he speak, asking, "Understood. You may withdraw."
Just like that?
Alna was somewhat puzzled, but he still did not dare to act out in front of Dorgon, so he obediently listened and withdrew.
After he withdrew, Dodo said impatiently, "Regent, this fellow's words cannot be trusted."
Jirgalang immediately said, "Why can he not be trusted?"
Dodo gave a cold laugh. "Is it true that he said the Dutch have dealings with the Ming Kingdom?"
“If it weren't so, why would he kill the Dutch?”
Dodo also couldn't understand it, only saying, "Could it not be that he failed to reach an agreement with the Dutch, they didn't bribe him?"
He did not suspect that Alna was a spy for the Ming Kingdom; this man's face had been ruined by the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom, which could be considered a life-destroying grudge.
Dorgon toyed with a magnificent dagger and said, "The Dutch should be leaving, but I do not know what their reason for leaving is."
After sheathing the dagger, he looked up and said, "Do you not have a single person among your subordinates who can understand the language of the Red-haired Barbarians?"
Jirgalang and Dodo immediately shut their mouths.
How could learning a foreign language be such an easy thing?
Not to mention those Dutchmen seemed to only trust Alna, no one knew what kind of *** medicine Alna had fed them.
Looking at it this way, it truly felt that Alna had no reason to kill the Dutch. After all, the Dutch were his source of confidence; as long as the Dutch could truly help the Great Qing, Alna's status would rise along with them.
If he killed all the Dutchmen now, not only would he offend the Dutch, but he would also ruin his own future.
Could it be.. he really is a loyal official?
Dodo simply could not believe it; not only him, but even Jirgalang did not quite believe it either.
Dorgon stood up and said, "Pass down the order: have that Jala E Zhen contact the Dutch again. We must acquire the Red-coated Cannon and firearms at all costs."
He did not care what disputes the little Jala E Zhen and the Dutch had; he only cared about the final result. If that result could not be produced, then that Jala E Zhen would naturally be dealt with.
Alna's heart sank when he received the order.
His excuse might have passed in the Great Qing, but the Dutch truly suffered the losses.
Originally, he thought that once the authorities learned the Dutch intended to join the Ming Kingdom, they would directly move to exterminate them, allowing him to silence all the remaining Dutch people.
To this end, he had already assembled his men; one thousand five hundred was neither too many nor too few, as there weren't that many people on the Dutch ships anyway.
However, after waiting and waiting, receiving such a result only left Alna in a difficult position.
At this point, this matter could only be blamed on the Ming Kingdom.
Alna ordered that gifts be prepared and sent to the Dutch fleet, because the Dutch Captain was already dead and even the adjutant was dead; now, the only person left who could make decisions was the Dutch Admiral.
This Dutch Admiral had been scared out of his wits; he refused to meet and prepared to depart.
Alna had no choice but to board the Great Qing's ship and approach it, attempting to communicate.
Fortunately, his Dutch was quite good, at least enough to express his meaning.
The Dutch Admiral hesitated repeatedly before finally agreeing to the request for a meeting.
However, the moment Alna stepped onto the ship, the soldier beside the Dutch Captain immediately raised his birdlock gun.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Keep it up! While you dogs are biting each other, it's best if you both end up losing! *Cat watching the drama with schadenfreude. jpg*
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock.
Chapter 193
They're all still alive?" Zhu Ci exclaimed in astonishment. "They're incredibly resilient.
Fu said, "This time, it was indeed a slip-up by the subordinates."
Zhu Ci shook his head. "It can't exactly be called a slip-up. No one expected Alna to react so quickly and be so ruthless."
That Dutch soldier was a spy bribed by Fu, who had been looking for an opportunity to attempt an assassination, but Alna was extremely cautious, always keeping at least four confidants by his side whenever he went out.
This time was naturally the same.
The only difference was that this time, in order to regain the trust of the Dutch, Alna brought only his trusted confidants and blades, without any Birdlock Guns, when boarding the ship.
Of course, given his position, even if his subordinates possessed Birdlock Guns, they could only bring them out during wartime.
Facing each other at close range on the boat, combined with the power of the birdlock gun, this assassination should, in theory, have been foolproof.
Unexpectedly, Alna reacted so quickly; as the Birdlock Gun was being raised, he was already stepping back, he even reached out to pull the two confidants standing beside him in front of him.
The bullets from the birdlock gun all struck those two confidants, killing them on the spot, while Alna, though wounded, did not die and instead turned and leaped into the sea.
Although that Dutch spy fired two more shots toward the sea, he failed to hit the opponent's vital spots.
After that, he had no more opportunities to carry out the assassination, because his identity had been exposed, he also had to flee quickly.
So, before the Dutch Admiral could react, he also quickly ran to the stern and jumped into the sea. Unlike Alna, he had people waiting to receive him not far away.
After Alna reached the shore, he ran through his injuries to find Jirgalang, which served as a testament to his previous claims.
This news was brought by a spy that Fu had planted within the Qing Army.
Fu was worried that Zhu Ci would be disappointed, so he said in a gentle voice, "Rest assured, Your Majesty, once the opportunity arises, this person will surely die."
Zhu Ci hurriedly said, "There is no need to be impatient. The people under your command have even greater uses; do not lose sight of the big picture for the sake of something small. It is enough that the alliance between the Tartars and the Dutch has been disrupted."
Alna was indeed formidable, his luck was quite good as well; every time he encountered a dead end, he would somehow manage to survive.
However, there is no need to focus too much on him; focusing only on this one person could easily lead to a misjudgment.
Anyway, since the opponent has been injured again and again like this, it's hard to say much about other things, but his lifespan will certainly not be long.
Next, as long as the Dutch are driven out of Taiwan, the Tartars will be without overseas reinforcements, both sides will effectively return to square one, with the difference being that the military preparations on the Great Ming side have been upgraded once again.