I'm really not doing business

Chapter 756: The Ming army is waiting for winter, what are the Japanese pirates waiting for?
The more standardized the industry is, the better it will develop. This is the long-term strategy for state-owned factories proposed by Wang Chonggu, leader of the Labor Party. Without standardized production, there will be no long-term stability.

This sentence is a pear that grew on the basis of the Ming Dynasty or the Central Plains culture.

This industry is all-encompassing, even including the emperor industry.

Zhu Yijun was a very professional emperor. He became very wise due to professional training and his own magnanimity and perseverance.

Some emperors were also very professional, but they lacked magnanimity and perseverance in their bones. They would slack off after achieving a little success. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Emperor Gaozong of Song were among them. Some only cared about their own personal gain and authority, such as Emperor Taizong of Song Zhao Guangyi and Emperor Qianlong of Qing.

Tax inspection also belongs to this industry. The Ming Dynasty's policies such as the seven tax inspection articles, filling out tax forms, and the tax invoices of the twelve zodiac signs are meant to regulate the tax inspection industry and prevent it from growing wildly and eventually becoming a major concern.

Zhu Yijun originally thought that the Tax Inspection Office he established for the purpose of collecting taxes for the imperial court was cruel enough, but when he saw the Guo Huan case that Zhu Yuanzhang had launched for the purpose of collecting taxes for the imperial court, Zhu Yijun seemed to be too lenient.

As a loyal and upright minister, Shen Li decided to follow Wan Shihe's old path, which was unexpected to everyone. Ministers like Shen Li were the ones who valued their reputation the most, but in such a big matter as the Tax Inspection Office, he directly chose sides.

"General Hai, there is no need to worry about me. Since I have been chosen, I will have no regrets. Your Majesty is still young and strong, and you will still be in your prime when I die. What do I have to be afraid of?" Shen Li said as a matter of course.

His Majesty is still young, which is one of the fundamental reasons why Shen Li chose this path. Anyway, His Majesty will not let him down as far as his reputation after death is concerned. People live for two things: their deeds before death and their reputation after death. Shen Li is willing to take this path because His Majesty can take care of him.

Wan Shihe has retired, but he is still the Prince's Guardian of the first rank. His son is the Minister of Shangbao, and his grandson can go directly to the Imperial Academy to study. He lives in a mansion rewarded by the emperor and has a chief physician from the Jiekuyuan as his escort. What more could one ask for in his later years?

The most important thing is that Your Majesty did the right thing. Wan Shihe is not a yes-man. He would occasionally speak out and even say some advice that goes against Your Majesty. As Your Majesty commented, there is advice but no slander. As a minister, you can advise the king in person, but don't talk nonsense behind his back.

Shen Li did not wait for his words to be passed on passively, but chose to take the initiative.

He said goodbye to Hai Rui and did not go to Wenyuan Pavilion, but went to the Ministry of Rites first. He explained the entire process of the Guo Huan case, how the case expanded from Guo Huan to military merits and bureaucrats, from western Zhejiang to Zhejiang, and finally to the twelve provincial governments across the country, what losses it caused, and why Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang took such a heavy hand.

Shen Li wrote all this in the court bulletin, and the other scribes immediately began to attack him. To everyone's surprise, they all directed their attacks at Shen Li himself, saying that he was fawning on his superiors, gathering corrupt officials, using twisted words to curry favor, and was not a loyal subject. In short, overnight, Shen Li went from being an upright minister to a rat crossing the street that everyone wanted to beat.

Attacking Shen Li but not discussing the Guo Huan case is the press release of these editors. Obviously there are some reasons that prevent these newspapers and editors from discussing the Guo Huan case. This attack cannot cause any harm to Shen Li, because the editors' refusal to discuss the Guo Huan case is a personal attack that ignores the facts and is meaningless.

Even putting aside the facts, how can we expect these censors to say something that most people would agree with? So it's just that the censors are incompetent and furious.

The reason why these Pen Zhengs were so angry was that they felt that they were betrayed by Shen Li. Shen Li's good reputation was blown up by these Pen Zhengs, but as soon as Shen Li entered the pavilion and came ashore, he killed these old people.

This is why Shen Li made a clear statement on the first day of taking office. His promotion and reputation have nothing to do with these rumors and public opinions. He does not want to go to the Northeast to fill a big bubble.

This disturbance lasted for a while. When some officials were still clamoring, the powerful people in Xitu City blocked the door of the Ministry of Revenue.

The entire East Chang'an Street gate was crowded with hundreds of people, who were so angry that the Ministry of Revenue was blocked and could not function normally. Only when the Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan came forward to inquire about the situation did he learn about the demands of these powerful people.

They couldn't buy the 12 Chinese Zodiac tax stamps. They thought they had all been bought by the people in the Taxation Bureau. They couldn't buy them anywhere.

These powerful people did not dare to cause trouble for the Tax Inspection Office, so they came to cause trouble for the Ministry of Revenue, which forced the officials of the Ministry of Revenue to petition the emperor and ask him to take charge of the imperial guards of the Tax Inspection Office, which would leave some room for the powerful people.

Zhu Yijun was also a little confused. How could the imperial guards of the Ming Dynasty be so bold? This was the best place in the capital, under the emperor's nose, and even the eunuchs in the imperial farm didn't dare to take everything. How could the imperial guards dare to do this?
The commander of the imperial guards, Zhao Mengyou, was sweating profusely and went to investigate. After a long time, he realized that it was neither the fault of the Ministry of Revenue nor the fault of the imperial guards of the Tax Inspection Office.

The tax inspectors never took the money, nor did they transfer it privately. The fundamental reason was the Minister of Revenue Wang Guoguang.

Wang Guoguang is an old-fashioned person who is unwilling to owe any national debt. He thinks that the new system should move forward tentatively.

If there are signs of something wrong, it will be stopped immediately and no greater harm will be caused. This is a conservative strategy and cannot be said to be wrong. Based on conservatism, the Baochao Bureau, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Revenue and issues tax tickets, gave a total of 100 sets of tickets of varying denominations to the Tax Inspection Office, which, in exchange for taxes, was only 50,000 silver coins.

The Tax Inspection Bureau and the Tax Guards certainly didn't dare to try to take everything during the first tax period, or else they would make His Majesty angry, and that would be the end of the Tax Guards' good days.

"It's just as Wang Ci Fu said, it's not the turn of the rats in the gutter to buy it." Zhu Yijun looked at the result. Legitimate merchants were also willing to buy tax invoices. In addition to being used as evidence of "I have paid money for the Ming Dynasty", tax invoices are more convenient, even if they are registered in the name, because they are flexible.

Zhu Yijun was not a businessman, but Wang Chonggu was a family of Shanxi merchants. Wang Chonggu asserted that this thing would not be the business of the rats in the gutter because of his flexibility.

The cycle of goods and payment for some accounts is very long, often taking half a year or a year. Sometimes, with a tax invoice, you can just stick it on without having to go to the government office again. It also makes it easier to smuggle some goods.

Wang Chonggu gave the emperor an example: kelp, the salt in the kelp, do you need to pay salt tax? It was different in different places. If you encountered difficulties, you could pass the tax smoothly by putting up the tax invoice.

Zhu Yijun was a farmer who didn't understand the ins and outs of business and didn't know how important the flexibility of tax invoices were to merchants. Grand Tutor Wang Guoguang had a typical conservative fiscal policy, so there was some trouble.

"Your Majesty, Li Yashi has spoken rudely again." Feng Bao said with an unpleasant expression, "Why don't we send him back to the West, so that he won't be an eyesore in the Ming Dynasty."

"What did he say again?" Zhu Yijun frowned. What does the establishment of the Ming Dynasty Tax Inspection Office system have to do with him, a barbarian?
Feng Bao said with embarrassment: "Your Majesty, what he said is very unpleasant."

"What exactly was said?" Zhu Yijun was even more confused.

Feng Bao took a deep breath and said in a very low voice: "He said that the Ming court couldn't even sell indulgences clearly."

"boom!"

Zhu Yijun slammed the table and said angrily, "Nonsense, how can this tax stamp be an indulgence! They have no morals in the West, selling indulgences everywhere. This is a tax stamp in the Ming Dynasty, it is a tax! Even if he committed a crime by buying a tax stamp, it does not change the fact that he is a criminal! He should be arrested and sentenced!"

Feng Bao said cautiously: "As long as you buy the tax stamp, you can avoid being investigated by the tax inspectors. Isn't this an indulgence?"

"Leiyashi also said that the judicial and judicial departments in our Daming area can investigate any cases clearly. The Taxation Bureau does not investigate, and many cases are muddled through without clear results."

"Isn't it the same as being exempted from punishment if you are not investigated by the Taxation Bureau?"

Legazpi said this because he was a Thai. The emergence of the Inquisition was actually because the Pope could not stand the darkness and cruelty of medieval Thailand, so he sent out the Inquisition.

Religious law is better than no law, but over time, the Inquisition became a hindrance to secular progress and was widely opposed.

Feng Bao carefully explained why Li Yashi said that. Putting it into the Western narrative style, it was that the prophet of the Great Light Church sent the Tax Inspection Court to various places to investigate tax issues. As a result, the prophet now sells indulgences, and as long as you buy a tax stamp, you can avoid the investigation of the court.

Therefore, in Legazpi's view, tax stamps are equivalent to indulgences, at least in terms of tax collection.

"He knows nothing! It's nonsense!" Zhu Yijun said immediately, "What he meant is that the Tax Inspection Office should be responsible for everything except tax inspection. Thirteen thousand people in the Tax Inspection Office is already a lot. If it is expanded further, it will become bloated and rigid."

"Then the tax bureau will really become the Inquisition! The tax stamp will really become an indulgence!"

“So we need to limit the size of the Tax Inspection Office, and limit its power to just tax inspection.”

"How can a barbarian from the West understand the basic logic of Ming politics? The country is so large, with more than 130 million people, and each government office has its own responsibilities. The power must not be too great, otherwise it will be harmful."

"Take him to the Northern Pacification Office to calm down for ten days, and send a tax inspector to have a good discussion with him on the basic operation of the Tax Inspection Office."

Zhu Yijun discovered that after Li Yashi broke away from his fanaticism as a convert, he changed from being a Ming Dynasty fan to a Ming Dynasty hater. Of course, he was not the kind of hater who did it for no reason and out of pure bullshit, but he looked at some of the Ming Dynasty's problems from the perspective of a Westerner.

Looking at a problem from one more angle or perspective will help you see it more comprehensively.

Tax invoices cannot be turned into indulgences. The problem should not be solved by starting with the tax invoices, but by starting with the powers and responsibilities of the Tax Inspection Office. This is also the significance of compiling official files in the Ming Dynasty Code. Everyone has his own duties and responsibilities.

Li Yashi was once again admitted to the Northern Pacification Office. Anyway, he would be released after a while, and being in prison would not prevent him from continuing to translate mathematical works from the West and translating Ming Dynasty works into Latin.

Li Yashi felt that the Northern Pacification Office was quite quiet, and as long as it did not involve the Five Poisonous Punishments, it would be acceptable.

When the Ming Dynasty's new policy was in full swing, the initiative in the local battlefield of the Korean battlefield and the Incheon-Seoul front had been completely controlled by the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming soldiers were a little confused during this battle. It was originally a tough nut to crack, but as time went on, the Ming took the initiative. Regarding this change in the situation, not only His Majesty who was far away in the capital, even the soldiers on the front line were a little confused.

"If the Japanese pirates send more troops to Incheon, they can cut off the Imjin River and Han River at any time, cut off the Ming Dynasty's supply lines, and put the Ming Dynasty into a dilemma where it has to fight to the death." Qi Jiguang stood in front of a huge feng shui map and pointed the long pole in his hand at the locations of Incheon, the Imjin River, and the Han River.

To take Seoul, we must first take Incheon. The Japanese pirates have 60,000 troops in Incheon, including 30,000 under Mori Terumoto and 30,000 under Hashiba Hideyoshi.

After the Ming Dynasty captured Kaesong, it had not yet seized Incheon. After the Battle of Masangwan, the Ming Dynasty entered a stage of all-out confrontation. Some voices began to spread, and the soldiers were whispering. They were mainly afraid that the court would really agree to the request of the Japanese regent Oda Nobunaga to use the Imjin River as the boundary and govern the country according to the river.

It is not surprising that the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty have such thoughts. Sometimes, the Ming court would make some absurd decisions because of the foreign peoples, which the soldiers on the front line could not understand.

The Incheon landing was indeed very difficult, and it was really hard to fight for it without suffering huge casualties.

Qi Jiguang said: "The Ming Dynasty is not afraid of such a stalemate, because this state of confrontation will last at most until October. When the Imjin River begins to freeze, it will be the end of the Japanese pirates in Incheon."

"The Ming army is waiting for winter, what are the Japanese pirates waiting for?"

Li Rusong frowned, then suddenly he understood and said with a smile: "Ah, wait for winter, wait for snow!" There were some different voices in the army, and one of them was Li Rusong.

Li Rusong was a little anxious. He told Qi Jiguang more than once that he wanted to lead 3,000 soldiers to Seoul and break it by force. This kind of tactic was extremely risky, but Li Rusong said that he was not afraid of death, and the strong men in the cavalry battalion were not afraid of death either.

Turning the outpost battle into an encounter battle, and then turning the encounter battle into a decisive battle was the solution Li Rusong came up with to break the deadlock. The hydrology near Incheon was really too complicated.

"Will the court allow us to wait until winter?" Zu Chengxun, as the deputy general of the Liao cavalry, raised his doubts. Qi Jiguang's idea of ​​taking advantage of the weather and the location was simply genius.

But there is a difficulty here. Can the imperial court just watch the troops entering the country and wait until October?

Qi Jiguang himself had this experience, the Battle of Cengang.

It's only the end of June and the beginning of July, and there are still more than three months until the freezing period. Do the emperor and the officials in the court have the patience to do this?

Li Rusong said cheerfully: "Before the parade, His Majesty specifically told me not to fight for the Koreans. I didn't fight for them either. I just wanted to kill the Japanese pirates."

Li Rusong did not understand the infighting in the court, but he knew the emperor very well. His Majesty would not blink an eye even if ten thousand Koreans died. His Majesty was angry about the atrocities of the Japanese pirates, but that was all anger.

But if a Ming soldier dies, Your Majesty will be very sad. On the one hand, the Beijing Camp is valuable, and on the other hand, every one of the Beijing Camp's elite soldiers is the child of his or her father and mother, and the father of the children. The sacrifice of every soldier should be remembered by history.

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"Taking advantage of the weather to turn the battlefield situation to your advantage is acceptable to Your Majesty." Qi Jiguang affirmed Li Rusong's answer.

"That's good, that's good." Zu Chengxun was a Liao soldier, and he had some distrust of the imperial court.

Qi Jiguang smiled and said, "Once the weather turns cold, the Japanese pirates will react. At that time, they will either advance and cross the Imjin River to attack Kaesong, or retreat to Chungju. Order all units to prepare for defense. The colder it gets, the crazier the Japanese pirates will become."

This is how Qi Jiguang fought a battle in a way that made his enemies despair. He always did this, keeping the initiative on the battlefield firmly in his own hands and making the enemy act at his own pace.

Many times, the enemy had clearly seen through his motives, but had no way to deal with him. The Southeastern Japanese pirates, Tuman Khan, and Altan Khan were all so desperate. Whenever they fought to this point, despair would arise deep in their hearts, and it would be better to surrender directly.

The reason why Qi Jiguang could act so leisurely was of course related to the support of a powerful Ming Dynasty. But when the Ming Dynasty was weak, in the middle and late Jiajing period, Qi Jiguang also showed his bravery. Even in the early Wanli period, after taking down Daning Guard, he continued to attack aggressively, because Qi Jiguang was also worried that this might be the only time he would fight outside the border.

"The Japanese pirates handed over seven Duntai Yuanhou yesterday, as well as 27 informants developed by the Duntai Yuanhou." Wang Rulong reported yesterday's situation. Seven Duntai Yuanhou sent by the Ming Dynasty were captured by the Japanese pirates and returned to the Ming army yesterday.

Wang Rulong continued, "Most of these informants are Han Chinese in Korea and Japan who were instigated by Duntai Yuanhou to rebel. For example, this informant leader, Guo Guoan, is from Fujian. He entered Japan to do business in the 38th year of Jiajing. Later, he changed his Japanese name to Fenyang Guangyu. Guo Guoan was in Sacheon, Korea, and was preparing to secretly cooperate with the Ming army to capture Sacheon. He was discovered and arrested by the Japanese."

"I don't quite understand why the Japanese pirates wanted to send back the captured Duntai Yuanhou?" Li Yougong, as the admiral's eunuch, expressed his confusion, his face full of question marks.

In fact, after learning that these generals had been captured, Li Yougong was already prepared for their sacrifice, but the reaction of the Japanese pirates was a bit subtle.

"Because they are from the Ming Dynasty." Qi Jiguang answered this question. He looked at Li Yougong's confused expression and continued, "The Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire. Killing people from the Ming Dynasty is a huge matter, not a battlefield."

"We are fighting the Japanese pirates now, right? We are fighting." Li Yougong still didn't understand. This was a war, not a joke. If they captured the enemy scouts, there was no reason to send them back intact. The Ming Dynasty killed the captured Japanese pirates' scouts directly.

"It's hard for me to explain, but that's the way it is. The Ming Dynasty was an existence that Japan had to look up to, so even if they captured a Ming scout, they would just let him go. For example, when the Huns captured a Han envoy, they offered him high positions and generous salaries, and used both soft and hard tactics in the hope of persuading him to surrender." Qi Jiguang said with a frown.

If Li Yougong had not mentioned this issue, Qi Jiguang would never have thought about it.

Liang Menglong looked at Li Yougong's puzzled expression, looked around, and then said, "Your Majesty said that most of the time, class identity is greater than ethnic identity."

All the generals in the central military tent in Kaesong looked at Liang Menglong in unison.

Liang Menglong hurriedly explained: "You don't have to look at me with strange eyes. This is what His Majesty said. His Majesty also said that beauty is determined by the water in the village; closeness is determined by class."

"The samurai and daimyo among the pirates have no mercy on their foot soldiers and civilians. If the pirates capture ordinary soldiers of the Ming army, they will also kill them. However, these Duntai Yuanhou are all your majesty's personal guards. They have different identities, so they must be treated differently."

"That's not the case. If that were the case, shouldn't Your Majesty believe the words of King Lee Sun of Korea more? Why does the court take the Ming army's reports as the basis?" Ma Lin shook his head repeatedly.

It is obvious that Your Majesty trusts the Ming army more, otherwise Your Majesty should have believed Lee Sun's memorials full of lies!
Liang Menglong glanced at Qi Jiguang, and then said calmly: "Because General Qi is the Duke of Fengguo, he is much more noble than Yi Sun. Your father is Ma Fang, the Earl of Yangcheng in the Ming Dynasty, the chief priest of the Military Academy, and the deputy governor of the rear military governor's office."

Marin opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing. He found that many things that he could not explain clearly in the past were now answered by the statement that class identity is more important than ethnic identity.

"Is this the content in the third volume about struggle?" Qi Jiguang was busy with the war and had not had time to read the contents of this volume.

Liang Menglong nodded and said, "Yes, the fourth quarter."

Qi Jiguang said with some emotion: "No wonder the Prime Minister tried so hard to stop the third volume from being published."

Zhang Juzheng didn't even want the second distribution volume to be published. It was out of inertia that You Shouli had already taken the finished manuscript to be printed. The third volume was written by Your Majesty, and the signature was Zhu Zhongxing, not Zhang Juzheng.

Liang Menglong continued, "Your Majesty also said: Class identity is easy to identify with the upper class, blindly worship the powerful and the higher class, believe that the powerful are omnipotent, and blindly follow the words of the powerful and the higher class without distinguishing right from wrong."

"Generally speaking, she is just a maid. She doesn't feel sorry for herself, but instead feels sorry for her master who is well-dressed and well-fed. Some are even worse, not even maids."

“After all, these maids love their masters, and they really can get silver, but this is not even a maid, so it’s a bit weird.”

Qi Jiguang was silent for a moment and said, "Let's call it Volume 3 in the future. After the battle, we will give a lecture on it after returning to Beijing. Don't give a lecture on it in the army for now."

This thing is a bit dangerous. Qi Jiguang has to read it personally before deciding whether to teach it publicly. There are no major problems with the first and second volumes, but the third volume seems a bit excessive.

Liang Menglong concluded: "The more servile a barbarian is, the more cruel he will be to his own kind. Similarly, the more cruel a barbarian is to his own kind, the more servile he will be. It is only natural that the Japanese pirates sent back the captured Duntai Yuanhou."

"The deposed King Yi Sun of Joseon requested some items for his living needs." Chen Dacheng's brows were almost twisted into knots, and he placed a memorial on the table.

Qi Jiguang picked it up and said dully, "How dare he ask for fifteen maids, twenty-five musicians, lamb wine and tender lamb meat? Why doesn't he just cut off his own meat and eat it?"

Chen Dacheng said quickly, "Li Sun said that in the past, he needed four maids to drink tea. One waited for the soup, one boiled the tea, one ordered the tea, and one served the tea. Fifteen was already too few. He can't even drink tea now."

"Should we submit this memorial to the imperial court?"

"Of course I have to submit a memorial. Although he was deposed as the king, he was not brought back to the Ming Dynasty after all." Qi Jiguang sighed, put Li Sun's memorial in the Tangbao, and sent it to the capital.

Six days later, the memorial Qi Jiguang sent to the imperial court received His Majesty's red-ink approval.

Regarding the plan to wait until the Imjin River freezes before attacking Incheon from the ground, His Majesty the Emperor's red-ink comment was: It shall be agreed upon before the previous command. If the previous command is hesitant and cannot make a decision, the order of General Qi shall prevail.

The front command means that the generals in command on the front line discuss the matter collectively. Three deputy generals are as good as Zhuge Liang. The general sometimes has the final say in the army, but more often, he also has to consult the opinions of the generals. If there are disagreements in the front command and no resolution can be reached, Qi Jiguang's orders shall prevail.

The emperor's reply to Lee Sun's request became interesting. The emperor's red-lettered reply was: Order Lee Sun-sin to arrange the deposed king's daily life.

It is similar to letting a hero investigate another hero. The emperor let Koreans fight against Koreans. In the future, don’t say that the Ming Dynasty’s monarchs and ministers criticized the last Korean king harshly. It was all done by Yi Sun-sin!

Lee Sun-sin had beaten Lee Sun before and broke one of his legs. It took a hundred days to heal the broken bones, and Lee Sun is still unable to get out of bed. Asking Lee Sun-sin to arrange Lee Sun's daily life would probably torture Lee Sun badly.

"Your Majesty is wise and knows how to use people well." After reading the memorial, Liang Menglong turned sideways and said with a smile on his face.

If Lee Sun-sin is asked to take care of Lee Sun's daily life, Lee Sun may not be able to get up or live. If Lee Sun-sin sympathizes with Lee Sun, then Your Majesty's meaning is very clear. No matter how the front line deals with him, Lee Sun-sin will bear the blame.

It is obvious that His Majesty is a very qualified and professional scholar. Scholars kill people without shedding blood and they look innocent after killing people.

Zhu Yijun's edict was a bit nagging. It mainly told Qi Jiguang in detail what had happened recently in the capital, and expressed his own views, such as Zhang Wei's reform of the Imperial College, the opposition of the lowly scholars, the exile of the lowly scholars to Liaodong to fill the swamps, the improvement of the Tax Inspection Office, Wan Shihe's retirement, Shen Li's succession and the Guo Huan case, etc.

This kind of nagging was to prevent Qi Jiguang from being out of touch and to give him a basic understanding of the trend of the capital, which was also a form of protection.

Things will not change on the Korean battlefield until the weather turns cold. The Ming army's firearms are invincible. If the Japanese pirates had not occupied the advantageous terrain, Seoul would probably have been recaptured.

"General Qi, the Japanese pirates have sent envoys to ask for negotiations with you, General Qi." A messenger ran into the central military tent of Shouchang Palace and reported the situation on the front line.

"I'm a soldier, what is there to talk to me about?" Qi Jiguang frowned, thinking that the Japanese pirates were a little crazy. He was just a general, at best a Duke of Fengguo. He was in Korea, not in the Wenhua Palace. How could he influence His Majesty's decision on whether to fight or make peace?
What did these Japanese pirates come to talk to him about?
Liang Menglong smiled and said, "These Japanese pirates always like to judge others by their own standards. They like to rebel against their superiors and undermine the Ming Dynasty. They think the Ming Dynasty is the same, so they come to talk to the general. Anyway, the war will not start until October. The general should agree to it for the time being. Otherwise, if the Japanese pirates capture Duntai Yuanhou again, they will not be willing to send him back to us."

"Forget it. If the lowly scholars in the court know about this, they will start talking nonsense again." Qi Jiguang said with a frown.

Liang Menglong smiled and said, "I, the Governor-General of Military Affairs Liang Menglong, and the Admiral of Internal Affairs Li Yougong, will go with General Qi to meet him. Isn't that a problem?"

(End of this chapter)