The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 320 Pirate Kapitan

Queen Wang is pregnant, and it's a prince.

Wanli was completely relieved.

However, the Zhejiang Party seems to have not received any news yet, and these guys are still continuing to make trouble in secret.

Early in the morning at about noon that day, when Wanli was reviewing memorials in the imperial study, Luo Sigong came again.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Luo Sigong pulled out a book from his bosom and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, there is indeed a sequel. This book has serious problems."

Is the demon book out?

Wanli took it and looked at it, and was speechless.

This is not a demon book.

The title of this book is "Guifan Tushuo", which has two more words than "Guifan". The title is quite normal and not too weird.

However, the content inside is a bit abnormal.

The opening chapter of this book is actually about Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan!
Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan was born into a scholarly family in Zhongzhou. She was determined to serve her country since childhood. She gave up literature to practice martial arts, and carefully taught martial arts to Qin Bangping, Qin Banghan, Qin Minping, and Qin Liangyu, hoping that her nephews and nieces could make contributions to the country.

Qin Bangping, deputy general of the Shenwu Front Camp, and Qin Liangyu, general of Zhendong, lived up to expectations. They led their troops to conquer the northern barbarians, pacify the southwest, and accumulated military merits to be awarded titles and ranks.

The current emperor is also extremely doting on Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan and wants to make her son the crown prince. This is known to everyone.

After reading it, Wanli couldn't help but frown. The story seemed normal at the beginning, but it became abnormal later on.

This is a sinister intention, trying to stir up a dispute over the national foundation again!
Later, there were Mi Yue of the Qin Dynasty, Wei Zifu of the Han Dynasty, etc., who were all quite famous because their sons became emperors or their relatives served the country.

This book looks similar to "Guifan", except that it has more illustrations.

However, the content inside only means one thing: he dotes on Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan extremely and wants to make the second son Zhu Changxu the crown prince!
After reading it roughly, Wanli couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

It is obvious that the Zhejiang Party wants to use this opportunity to stir up a dispute over the country's foundation and embarrass him.

Let’s see who will be embarrassed then!
He thought about it carefully, then nodded slightly and said, "Well, this book does have some problems, but this book is not the main point. There will definitely be a follow-up to this matter, and the follow-up is the main point. You should keep a close eye on it. If anyone uses this book to make a fuss, report it immediately."

Isn't this the point of the book?
Luo Sigong was stunned for a moment, but then he said carefully, "Your Majesty, this book has been circulated throughout the capital. Many people are secretly discussing why you didn't make His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Some young people are even discussing submitting a petition to make him a crown prince."

The Zhejiang Party is just hoping for chaos in the world.

Most of those young and foolish people still consider themselves to be the clean stream. The Zhejiang Party does not take action itself, but uses this method to make the clean stream run into the muzzle of his gun. It is indeed a good method.

But it didn't work.

This time I'm going to make your eyeballs fall to the ground.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Don't you know why I didn't appoint a crown prince?"

Uh, don’t ask me this question, I dare not get involved!

Luo Sigong shook his head repeatedly and said, "I don't know, and I don't dare to ask."

You don't even know, it seems the confidentiality is done very well.

This also proves that you have not placed any secret guards in the palace.

Well, yes, this person did make the right choice.

Wanli nodded with satisfaction, then waved his hand and said, "Go ahead and keep a close eye on the follow-up for me."

What will be the follow-up?

Luo Sigong quickly bowed and took his leave.

Unexpectedly, after a while, Yu Zigao came to ask for a meeting.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli couldn't help but ask, "Kemai, why did you come here?"

Unexpectedly, Yu Zigao said naively, "Your Majesty, General Deng has ordered me to be careful and not let anyone else know about this."

You are such a fool, boy.

Wanli smiled and shook his head, then beckoned, "Come here and speak quietly to me."

Yu Zigao came up quickly and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, we have found the pirates." Sure enough, there must be pirates along the coast of the Ming Dynasty. Without pirates, how could the Zhejiang Party make money from overseas business?
Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "What have you found out? Tell me about it."

Yu Zigao explained in detail, "We've found out that the leader of this pirate group is nicknamed Kapitan, and his real name is Li Dan. He has three or four hundred ships under his command, and most of them are ocean-going warships weighing thousands of tons.

As for his troops, he claims to have 100,000, but after careful questioning, I've learned he only has 50,000 to 60,000 men, and most of them are merchants, peddlers, and ship operators, with only 20,000 to 30,000 capable of fighting."

what?
You guys checked it so clearly!

When Wanli heard this, he was stunned.

He was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help asking, "How did you find out so much detail?"

Yu Zigao said rather awkwardly, "Your Majesty, Li Dan is from Quanzhou Prefecture, and we are from the same hometown."

You idiot, he is your fellow villager and it’s not your fault. Are you afraid that I will blame you?
Wanli continued to ask: "How did you find him?"

Yu Zigao quickly explained, "I was ordered by General Deng to lead the navy's express ships to garrison the harbor. These guys seemed to know that our navy's dock was in that archipelago, and they actually went around it from a distance.

However, they didn't know that our telescope could see the sea surface more than ten miles away, so they were still discovered by me.

I only have a hundred or so speedboats under my command, and I can't defeat them. There's nothing I can do but follow them from a distance to see what these guys are doing.

As a result, these guys drove the fleet directly to the sea near Ningbo Prefecture, which seemed to be less than 20 miles away from the port terminal, and then sent out several centipede boats to transport goods.

This haul took most of the day, and several centipede boats made countless trips back and forth before they continued southward, heading towards the Fujian waters.

I was very familiar with that place and was not afraid, so I followed them. After several days, they actually stopped in the waters near Quanzhou Prefecture again.

Then, Li Dan took several centipede boats into the waters of Jinjiang and went home.

When I arrived at my hometown, I was naturally less afraid. I followed them from a distance to see what they were doing.

It seemed that Li Dan sent a lot of things to his family and friends, and then returned to the sea and continued to lead the fleet towards Southeast Asia.

Now I dare not follow, because the Centipede Ship cannot sail out to sea without the protection of a thousand-ton giant ship.

I had no choice but to run back home, change my clothes, and then go to Li Dan's house with gifts, pretending to ask his family to help introduce me to Li Dan.

There are many pirates from our side, and Li Dan's family didn't suspect anything. I just showed off a few of my skills and scared them.

Li Dan's family was like they had found a treasure, and they were very enthusiastic towards me, telling me everything, so I just asked them."

You kid, you may seem a little silly, but you are actually quite smart. You even changed your clothes and took gifts to go to someone's house to investigate. Not bad.

Kapitan Li Dan seemed to be Zheng Zhilong's adoptive father, and this group of pirates did not seem to be very bad.

The pirate leaders in the late Ming Dynasty all seemed to be from Fujian, but overseas trade was basically controlled by officials from Zhejiang. There is actually something to be done here.

In history, Zheng Zhilong seemed to have escaped the control of the wealthy maritime merchant families.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "Kemai, have you ever asked how much they can earn as pirates?"

Yu Zigao nodded repeatedly and said, "I've asked about this. They're essentially just errand boys. They only get about 10% of the commission and don't even care about the food and wages of their subordinates. Furthermore, they have to pay for the ships, so they don't make much throughout the year."

As expected, the wealthy maritime merchants were so corrupt that they even exploited pirates.

If we can persuade this group of pirates to rebel, not only will the Zhejiang Party lose the people running errands overseas, but we can also directly take over their trade routes and easily start overseas business!

Historically, Zheng Zhilong accepted the amnesty, and Li Dan would probably do the same.

Wanli thought about it carefully and then asked, "Kemai, do you think Li Dan will accept the offer?"

This is it.

Yu Zigao thought about it carefully, then said solemnly, "I don't think their family members are bad people. They probably go out to sea to make money to support their families. I think that with some coercion and inducement, there shouldn't be any problems."

This kid is really smart.

Upon hearing this, Wanli said decisively, "Alright, I'll leave this matter to you. Go tell Li Dan to follow me and I'll provide the food and ships, and I'll give them a 10% dividend, purely for him. If he's willing to accept the offer, you can bring him to the capital to meet the emperor."

I have to take people back quickly to surround the village where Li Dan lives. As long as his family can't escape, Li Dan can't escape either!
Upon hearing this, Yu Zigao quickly bowed and said, "I obey your order."

(End of this chapter)