prosperous age

Chapter 979 1068 Zhang Wei Secret Discussion

In the mid-sixteenth century, pirates were rampant along the coast of China.

Various pirates including Japanese pirates, Portuguese, Spanish, etc. all made a living along the coast of China. The most powerful among them were of course the Chinese pirates.

Perhaps, after docking at the port, they are all honest businessmen, but once on the sea, a place full of violence and barbarism, they will transform into pirates who do all kinds of evil.

During the Jiajing period, the ones who dominated the ocean were Xu Hai and Wang Zhi, while during the Longqing period, there were the sea pirates Zeng Yiben, Lin Daoquan, Lin Feng and others, all of whom were famous pirate leaders in the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong at that time. At their most powerful, they even besieged the city of Guangzhou and defeated the famous general Yu Dayou.

Lin Feng was from Raoping, Chaozhou, Guangdong. He went to sea at the age of nineteen and led his men to roam the sea during the Jiajing and Wanli periods.

At its peak, it had more than 300 ships and over 40,000 personnel.

In the second year of the Longqing reign, Lin Feng led his troops to capture the Shenquan Town in Huilai. The next year, he plundered Chenghai and retreated to Guangzhou. During this period, Zeng Yiben had died in the battle, and Lin Feng's power began to develop.

Lin Feng's arrogance attracted the attention of the Ming court. The Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, the Governor of Fujian and others asked Yu Dayou to encircle and suppress Lin Feng with all his strength. Lin Feng was unable to do so alone and had to flee to Dongfanwanggang through Penghu.

At this time, the existence of the Nanyang Navy had formed a barrier on the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty, completely keeping the pirates out, making it difficult for them to plunder the coastal prefectures and counties.

Especially during this period, because the Ming Dynasty opened Yuegang, a large number of pirates mysteriously disappeared, and Lin Feng's pirate group almost became the target of public criticism.

In fact, in the middle and late Longqing period, Lin Feng's pirate group had fallen into a deep crisis.

Due to the opening of Yuegang, a large number of Japanese pirates and smugglers abandoned their original businesses, contacted the sea merchants behind them, and successfully laundered their wealth and went ashore by purchasing trade licenses, also known as ship pilots.

This is also the reason why, since the Longqing period, although there are still occasional sea pirates on the southeast coast, the warnings of Japanese pirates invading have been greatly reduced.

These whitewashed pirates became legitimate maritime merchants and were occasionally requisitioned by the government to add a lot of auxiliary forces to the official navy, ensuring the court's ultimate control over the coast.

Therefore, not only did Lin Feng find it difficult to settle down in Fujian and Guangdong, but it was also very difficult to recruit new players.

For those who want to make money at sea, the first choice is naturally to go to Yuegang to look for opportunities, rather than foolishly running off to become a pirate.

In just a few years, the number of pirates led by Lin Feng dropped sharply from a peak of 40,000 to more than 10,000.

After Yu Dayou attacked Dongfan Wanggang, when Lin Feng escaped from Dongfan Island, he was left with only more than 60 large and small warships and a population of about 6,000 people.

It can be said that in this era, there is no future in being a pirate along the coast of the Ming Dynasty.

But Lin Feng was a pirate registered by the Ming court. Even if he chose to surrender, he would most likely follow the same path as Xu Hai and Wang Zhi.

It can be said that Hu Zongxian's practice of killing Xu Hai and Wang Zhi did have a bad effect, which was that the pirates dared not surrender.

Surrender means death, and fighting to the end may result in death, but there is also a chance that you can survive. At worst, you can escape to Southeast Asia.

The sea breeze blew up the sea surface, creating waves, and seabirds were flying in the sky, making shrill cries.

On the waters north of Luzon, a huge fleet is slowly approaching.

Lin Feng had heard of Luzon countless times, but this was his first time there.

He was not familiar with this place, so he could only urge his men to be extremely alert and pay close attention to every move on the island.

Manila is located in the western part of Luzon Island and is a natural harbor with unique advantages, which is why the Spaniards took a fancy to it.

However, Lin Feng was used to being a pirate, so he naturally knew that they would send out sentinels around. So he thought that the Spaniards should also set up outposts in various directions of Luzon and send out a small number of sentinels to observe the surroundings.

In fact, when Yu Dayou attacked Wanggang this time, Lin Feng was able to lead the remnants to escape because he received early warning before the attack. Otherwise, he would have been blocked in the port by the Ming navy and would have been unable to escape.

"Boss, there's a boat coming out over there."

Suddenly, a sharp-eyed pirate pointed at a corner of Luzon in the distance and shouted.

"Send a few speedboats after them. We can't let them get away."

Lin Feng gave the order decisively, and soon the order was issued from the pirate ship. Four or five speedboats quickly chased after them as the sailors paddled desperately.

Although the Spanish population in Luzon was small, Manila Governor Sander still set up many outposts around Luzon, just like why Yu Dayou asked Deng Zilong to establish several observation posts in the eastern part of Dongfan Island even if he could not find a good port.

Although the navigators on the ship were the captured Spanish sailors, they were not stupid and would not take them directly to the outskirts of Manila Harbor, allowing the pirates to easily attack the city they had just occupied.

Therefore, they were taken to the waters in northern Luzon, where there were observation posts, in order to have the garrison alert Manila.

However, Lin Feng could not hide their little thoughts from him.

He was planning a surprise attack on Manila, but he had no intention of engaging in a major battle with the Spanish, so it was extremely important to block the news of their arrival.

"Go cut off that barbarian's nose and throw it into the sea. He still wants to fool us."

Looking at the boat chasing after them, Lin Feng said with a look of sarcasm on his face.

"Yes, the boss."

A pirate beside him agreed, turned around and walked to the back.

Soon, a shrill scream was heard from the stern of the ship, but after the sound of a heavy object falling into the sea, no other noise was heard.

"Send two ships over there. Be careful, there are still barbarians there."

Then, Lin Feng gave another order.

"Rest here tonight and go to Manila tomorrow."

In this era, it is actually very risky for ships to sail on the sea at night, not to mention that the waters are unfamiliar to them.

After coming from Dongfan Island and passing through the Bashi Channel, the group was already exhausted and really needed a place to rest in order to prepare for the upcoming war.

Although, in Lin Feng's view, as long as they could successfully launch a sneak attack on Manila, it would be as easy as taking something out of a bag for them with only a few thousand people to capture a city garrisoned by hundreds of people, but the barbarians' firearms were sharp, so he had to be on guard.

It would be right to take a good rest here for half a day.

Half an hour later, the pirates who had gone ashore came back and said that they had not found any foreigners. Lin Feng then ordered the fleet to approach the shore so that his men could take turns to go to the island to rest.

Even for pirates like them, who were used to drifting on the sea, they still felt a little uncomfortable when their legs left the ship and stepped onto the mainland. Their bodies were used to swaying, so they would naturally have such a reaction, which would be gone after half a day.

After arriving on the island, Lin Feng quickly gathered his men to discuss the plan to attack Manila.

The Ming court was naturally unaware that their own pirates were crossing the ocean to expedition to Manila. If Wei Guangde knew, he might have prayed in his heart for their success.

Because if Lin Feng could gain a foothold in Luzon, Yu Dayou's Nanyang Navy could march to Luzon in the name of suppressing the Japanese and seize this ownerless land.

At this time in the capital, the streets were swept clean and many intersections were decorated with lights, making it look very festive.

This was all because Shuntian Prefecture notified the headmen of each district and city to clean the streets and arrange the intersections.

The reason, of course, was to celebrate Emperor Wanli's birthday.

There was a grand court meeting early in the morning to congratulate the emperor. Afterwards, the ladies of various mansions in the capital also went to the palace to pay their respects to the two Empress Dowagers and congratulate the emperor on his birthday.

Since the Ministry of Rites is in charge, there is naturally no need for the Cabinet to interfere. Everything has its own rules and regulations, so we just need to follow them.

"Shandai, the news in Burma seems to have spread in the capital."

The grand court meeting was over, and there was still a banquet to be given by the emperor, but there was more than an hour in between, so the three cabinet members chose to return to the cabinet to deal with some memorials. On the way, Zhang Juzheng whispered to Wei Guangde.

"It's only a matter of time before the news spreads. With so many people in the Five Military Commands and the Ministry of War knowing about it, it's almost impossible to keep it secret."

Wei Guangde smiled as expected. He also learned from Zhang Ji last night that officials in Beijing were secretly saying that the court might send troops to Myanmar and what the situation was like there.

Wei Guangde didn't mind this.

If the news was kept secret, and then suddenly news came out that the court was going to send troops to attack Myanmar, that would be troublesome, as many officials who did not know the truth would definitely rise up in opposition.

How can we take action against the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty?

However, when Zhang Juzheng said this to him today, it was obviously not just a simple message.

"Shan Dai, a good friend came to my house last night to intercede for Yun. Look."

Zhang Juzheng did not waste time and lowered his voice and whispered to Wei Guangde.

Although Zhang Juzheng did not specify who it was or for whom he was pleading, his meaning was very clear at this point.

"As long as he is not colluding with Mang Yinglong and is merely negligent, he will be reprimanded and transferred to another place."

Wei Guangde didn't want to cause trouble with Zhang Juzheng over some trivial matters. Although he once wanted to hold those people accountable, he chose to give up after calming down.

The relationships among Ming Dynasty officials’ fellow villagers and peers were so intricate and complicated that touching one person might lead to dissatisfaction or even hostility from a group of people.

As long as he didn't collude with foreign enemies to sell out the country, Wei Guangde felt that letting him go was no big deal.

"That's good."

In fact, these days, which official would collude with foreign countries and do such things as selling out the country for personal gain?

Not to mention the scholars, even ordinary Ming people would feel superior when seeing the barbarians, and would completely look down on these barbarians from the West.

This is in stark contrast to later society. After thousands of years, the Han people have developed strong national self-confidence and look down on foreigners.

Even when the Japanese pirates were rampant, it was still the same. What else did they have except brutality? They were so poor that they ran to the Ming Dynasty to rob and plunder.

Wei Guangde's words naturally meant that he agreed with Zhang Juzheng's idea of ​​being lenient with the emperor. It was just a reiteration of the imperial edict and would not cost him anything.

As for transfers to other places, perhaps the officials in Yunnan are eager to leave that remote place. The fact is that all the officials in the Ming Dynasty want to serve as officials in the prosperous area of ​​Jiangnan, and the southwestern border is naturally unpopular.

"I have already sent a sternly worded official document to Yunnan, requiring them to summon the envoys of each Xuanwei Division to Kunming to report on their work. I am afraid that the war in Burma will soon begin."

After walking a few steps, Zhang Juzheng spoke again.

If the envoys were asked to go to Kunming, no one would go, and the situation in Myanmar would be exposed.

Even if they sent other people to impersonate the envoys, Yunnan would have ways to find out their true identities and it would be impossible to hide it.

In fact, the fact that someone went to Zhang Juzheng to plead for mercy shows that Yunnan was more or less aware that the situation in Myanmar was not good.

It’s just that because the war has not spread to the border of the Ming Dynasty, Yunnan officials are playing ostrich and are unwilling to take action.

Perhaps he also thought that if he could escape from Yunnan as soon as possible, he could avoid this disaster.

But the imperial court had already noticed it, and the people in the capital knew that something was wrong, so they had to plead for mercy first.

I think the news here should have already spread to Yunnan.

"Three days later, Li Rusong, Li Rubai and Li Ruzhen will set out to inspect the garrisons in Sichuan, Guangxi and Guizhou. Half a month later, Li Chengliang will also set out to inspect the southwest.

With Li Chengliang here, I don’t think there will be any major trouble.”

Wei Guangde said calmly.

"What I'm most afraid of in this matter is the extra thousand Li family servants in the Beijing camp. If the news leaks out, I don't know how the Censorate will impeach me."

Zhang Juzheng reminded.

Li Chengliang's servants were all cavalry, which was the predecessor of the Guanning Iron Cavalry in the late Ming Dynasty.

After receiving the order from Li Chengliang and the Ministry of War in Liaodong, they rushed to the capital overnight and settled in the Beijing camp in less than half a decade.

Li Chengliang also knew that this matter was of great importance, so they entered the Beijing Camp quietly. Except for some nobles in the capital who were serving in the Beijing Camp, no one knew of their arrival.

Naturally, this matter was reported to the palace.

Otherwise, if thousands of brave soldiers appeared outside the capital, the Jinyiwei would have already started arresting people for interrogation.

In other words, the palace has actually privately approved of generals keeping servants. After all, it is all for the purpose of winning the battle. Otherwise, there will be no concessions.

"The only way to maintain the stability of the court is to deal with the Burmese affairs as soon as possible."

Wei Guangde whispered.

According to Li Chengliang's plan, he would not enter Yunnan directly, but would first inspect Sichuan, Guizhou and other places to gather troops.

This was also to save some face for the Mu family in Yunnan. Otherwise, if Li Chengliang entered Yunnan, it would be equivalent to directly seizing the military power that the Mu family had held in Yunnan for nearly two hundred years. It would also give a bad impression to the local people in Yunnan, that is, the court no longer trusted the Mu family.

The imperial court naturally wanted to avoid such things that were detrimental to Yunnan's stability.

According to Wei Guangde's idea, the best excuse for this matter would be for Yunnan to summon all the envoys to Kunming.

Now that they are here, they will naturally be forced to tell the truth, so that the court will have a reason to send troops.

If they don't come, they will be exposed, and Yunnan can naturally send troops to attack.

In short, if the Mu family in Yunnan could successfully deal with the Toungoo Dynasty, Li Chengliang would not have to take action.

Once the war became stalemate, it would naturally be unacceptable to the Ming court. Li Chengliang then sent troops from three provinces into Yunnan to attack Myanmar.

But now it seems that Zhang Juzheng seemed to want to let Li Chengliang intervene in advance, so he took the initiative to speak and test the waters.

"That would be best. Let Li Chengliang resolve the Burmese issue as soon as possible and have him lead his troops to garrison there for a while.

It was not far from the old port, so it was a good opportunity to find out whether Zhang Lian was really there.

This matter has a huge impact. If it goes wrong, the court will lose face.”

Zhang Juzheng said in a low voice.

Wei Guangde knew what Zhang Juzheng was worried about and just nodded slightly.

The current Prime Minister does not want any negative news to be spread.

(End of this chapter)