I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 18 Southeastern Anti-Japanese Deployment

To the east of Ningbo Yin County, the setting sun shines on the Yin River, dyeing half of the river red.

A speedboat came from Haikou and slowly stopped at the dock.

Before the boat came to a stop, an official in his forties, wearing a black gauze hat and a scarlet robe embroidered with clouds and geese on the chest, jumped off the bow and hurriedly walked along the gangplank to the shore.

He walked quickly to the roadside holding up his front lapel and jumped into the sedan chair that had been waiting for a long time.

The sound of footsteps on the floor of the sedan chair was heard from inside. The four bearers lifted the sedan chair with force and walked away quickly.

In less than two quarters of an hour, the sedan chair arrived at the gate of Hu Zongxian, the Minister of War and Governor-General of Zhejiang and Fujian Military Affairs.

As soon as the official got off the sedan chair, two staff members of the headquarters came forward to receive him: "Minister Tan, Mr. Hu is waiting."

"it is good."

He walked through the hall and corridor and was soon brought to the study.

Hu Zongxian, dressed in casual clothes with only a bun on his head, stepped forward, took the official's hand, and said happily: "Zili, I finally saw you!"

The visitor was none other than Tan Lun, Right Councillor of Zhejiang Provincial Government and Deputy Commissioner of Inspecting the Maritime Route of the Criminal Court. A few months ago, he was ordered to lead part of the Zhejiang Army south to Chaozhou, Guangdong.

Hu Zongxian led Tan Lun to the study and sat him down. After the servants served tea and left, he asked impatiently, "Have the two thieves, Lin Zhaoxi and Zhang Lian, been defeated?"

"Replying to the Ministry of Personnel, Liu Xian, Yu Dayou, and Zhang Kunxiu led elite troops to attack in different directions. In April, they destroyed Zhang Lian's old camp, and his generals Xiao Wan and Luo Pao were killed. Zhang Lian, Lin Zhaoxi and others fled in panic.

In June, Zhang Lian's general Guo Yujing surrendered, and the troops from all directions took advantage of the victory to pursue and suppress the bandits. In July and August, Zhang Lian, Zhang Gonghu, Lai Ci, Bai Tu, Ye Huai, Li Wenbiao, Yu Dachun and other bandits were captured and killed one after another.

Unfortunately, Lin Chaoxi was cunning, and seeing that the situation was not right, he took Liang Ning, Chen Shaolu and other generals and fled to Jiangxi with the remaining troops. Lieutenant General Wang Chong led his troops to chase after them.

Seeing that the main culprit had been eliminated and the main force of the rebels had been suppressed, I led my troops back to Fujian with General Yu (Yu Dayou).”

"Good!" Hu Zongxian clapped his hands and cheered.

"Now that the main force of the Guangdong bandit army has been defeated, we can focus on eliminating the Japanese invasion in Fujian. While you and General Yu were rushing to Guangdong to provide assistance, General Qi (Qi Jiguang) and General Lu (Lu Tong) defeated the invading Japanese pirates in Taizhou, beheading 1,426 of them and burning or drowning 4,600.

Afterwards, more than 1,100 remaining Japanese pirates were killed in Ningbo and Wenzhou. All of them fled to Fujian, and the Japanese invasion in Zhejiang was completely eradicated. "

Hu Zongxian introduced in an enthusiastic voice, and Tan Lun was also very excited.

After more than 20 years of Japanese aggression, most of the Japanese invasion has finally been eliminated one by one, and there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.

"After reconnaissance, we found that the Japanese pirates in Fujian were divided into two major groups, the largest of which gathered in Hengyu Island and Niutian, offshore of Fuqing and Ningde, waiting for an opportunity to invade and harass northern and central Fujian.

The Japanese pirates in the south used Nan'ao, Guangdong as their base, waiting for an opportunity to harass the southern and central Fujian areas. We have a rough idea of ​​their numbers and weapons."

Tan Lun nodded.

He still believed in Hu Zongxian's ability.

"Zili, I have submitted a petition to recommend you as the Right Censor-in-Chief, Governor of Fujian, stationed in Quanzhou; I have also recommended General Yu as the Commander-in-Chief of Fujian, responsible for dealing with the Japanese pirates in the south who are based in Nan'ao.

I moved to Taizhou and sent General Qi, the commander-in-chief of Zhejiang, to lead the Yiwu Zhejiang Army to the north and central Fujian. The imperial edict has been sent down. "

Tan Lun keenly realized that Hu Zongxian's approach to suppressing the Japanese invasion in Fujian this time was slightly different from his usual methods, but it was difficult to tell exactly what the difference was.

However, he suddenly remembered that there was still a general who had not been arranged to fight against the Japanese.

"Mr. Hu, how do you plan to deal with Lu Ziming (Lu Tong)?"

Hu Zongxian smiled and replied, "Brother Zili, rest assured. Lu Ziming is a capable general of our governor. He has made outstanding contributions in suppressing the Japanese invaders before. We will not abandon him.

Brother Zili, the Japanese invasion of Zhejiang and Fujian has never ceased, and you and I both know the real reason."

Tan Lun nodded, "Tan knows that, first, the local forces in the southeast are desperate to seek huge profits at sea. They collude with each other and make chaos at will. This is the internal trouble.

Second, the East is in turmoil, with local separatism, brave soldiers wandering around to make a living, and local forces in the southeast are sending people to the East to recruit and lure them, colluding with each other. This is an external threat. Internal and external threats are linked together. When we eliminate one group, they go to the East to recruit and lure a new group, and it's endless. "

"That's right!" Hu Zongxian said hatefully, stood up excitedly, and walked back and forth in the study with his hands behind his back.

"These internal and external troubles are the root of the Japanese invasion in the southeast for the past twenty years. If the internal and external troubles are not eliminated, the Japanese invasion will be difficult to eradicate. Now the court is planning to eliminate the internal troubles. We must find a way to eliminate the external troubles."

Tan Lun's eyes sparkled as he asked happily, "Hu Bu Tang, how do we eliminate the external threat?"

"This Governor has recommended Lu Ziming (Lu Tong) as the commander-in-chief of the Zhi-Zhe-Fujian Naval Patrol. Gather naval vessels from various places, recruit civilian vessels, and order several shipyards to quickly build ships. Establish a Southeast Naval Patrol, patrol the southeast seas, cut off the sea route between the East Japanese and the southeast, and wipe out these recruited and lured Japanese pirates at sea!

People all say that the Japanese pirates are fierce. Firstly, most of them are veterans who have fought in the East-West War for many years and have rich combat experience. Secondly, those who dare to risk their lives to come to our Ming Dynasty to become pirates are mostly vicious and desperate criminals.

But no matter how fierce they were, once they were at sea, big ships would attack small ships, more guns would attack fewer, and there were also rockets, catapults, and thunder bombs, so the strengths of the Japanese pirates were restrained and they were just the right size to be dealt with.

The Governor also sent people to Tuen Mun, Guangdong, to contact the Portuguese and lure them with bribes, hoping to gain their help in shipbuilding, cannon casting, firearms, and naval warfare.

Tan Lun finally understood the difference of Hu Zongxian.

"Hu, I remember that you were very afraid of going out to sea and were very opposed to forming a naval patrol force. You only used it as an auxiliary means to eliminate the Japanese threat and strongly advocated the strategy of eliminating the Japanese on land."

Hu Zongxian smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said after hesitating for a while: "To be honest, Brother Zili, I was taught a lesson when I went to Beijing to report on my work this time."

"Who taught Hu Butang?"

"Your Highness, Prince Yu."

"what!"

Tan Lun was stunned.

"Isn't His Royal Highness only eight years old?"

"Yes, he is only eight years old, but he looks like he is eleven or twelve years old, but his mind is unpredictable."

Tan Lun was somewhat skeptical and thought Hu Zongxian was exaggerating and trying to flatter his new bride.

"How does His Royal Highness teach Hu Butang?"

"The prince told Hu that the key to defeating the Japanese is to control the sea power."

"Sea power?" Tan Lun was amazed by this new term.

"Sea power is the control of the ocean, through the control of maritime traffic by the navy. To control sea power, we must first control the business dealings with maritime merchants, and then coerce and bribe those who are related to maritime merchants to make them submit and eliminate internal troubles.

Controlling sea power also means controlling the sea routes from various overseas fiefdoms to the Ming Dynasty, cutting off the invading Japanese pirates, annihilating the enemy at sea, and preventing the local people from suffering.

As for controlling the sea, the Portuguese are a great help to us. They can come from thousands of miles away, sailing in boats, so they must have some advantages. "

"Sea power?" Tan Lun pondered for a moment and nodded. "What the prince said about sea power does make some sense. But the Portuguese sailed thousands of miles across the sea, so they must have some secrets to rely on. They are not willing to teach us so easily."

"Haha, what you are worrying about is the same as what I was worrying about at the beginning. The prince said that the Portuguese sailed across the sea for nothing but money and huge profits. As long as we tempt them, what can't they teach us?"

"Well, barbarians value profit over loyalty, so they can be lured with profit." Tan Lun thought of another thing, "Hu Bu Tang, has the emperor approved everything you just said?"

Hu Zongxian put his hands behind his back, turned around, looked at the southeast map, and murmured, "The prince still understands the emperor."

An attendant was reporting outside the door.

"Master, this is an urgent letter from Beijing. It's from Mr. Wenchang."

Hu Zongxian was startled and quickly opened the door and took the letter.

He quickly unfolded it and read it, his face filled with surprise and doubt.

(End of this chapter)