The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 325 Why Pirates Can't Be Exterminated
Meng Yanghao, the Imperial Secretary, was thrown into prison.

The young and inexperienced Qingliu was really frightened.

Meng Yanghao is the descendant of the Second Sage!

The little emperor threw him into prison without hesitation.

They don't have that kind of status and background, so being thrown into the imperial prison is the lightest punishment. They could be killed or even have their entire family executed.

Qingliu is not a sand sculpture.

Donglin is even more shrewd.

They used Meng Yanghao to try and find out that fighting for the national capital is tantamount to seeking death.

Both the Qingliu and Donglin factions were silent, and the Zhejiang Party was stunned.

Their carefully planned case of the evil book was all in vain.

No one fell into the trap, and Meng Yanghao was a fool, and was thrown into prison. How can they continue to play?
It seems that there is no way to solve the case of the evil book. They can only wait for Li Dan to come back to discuss how to deal with pirates and Japanese pirates.

Wanli was actually also waiting for Li Dan.

So, would Li Dan choose to accept the amnesty or listen to the maritime merchants’ call for the pirates and Japanese pirates to go ashore and burn, kill and loot crazily?
This wait lasted for three or four months, and the capital city went from the warm spring breeze to the scorching summer heat.

However, Wanli did not take his concubines and princes and princesses to the Summer Palace.

This is a critical period for seizing overseas interests.

He relied on overseas interests to continue expanding his strength. It can be said that overseas interests are the foundation of whether the Ming Dynasty can remain strong.

It is impossible for the Zhejiang Party to hand over such huge benefits to him. He has even brought out the evil book in advance, and no one knows what trouble will come next.

This struggle for interests has quietly begun, and it is still unknown who will win. He must stay in the court and take charge.

Moreover, Queen Wang and Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan were both pregnant, and Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan was pregnant with a big belly, so it was inconvenient for her to rush to the Summer Resort.

Anyway, there are plenty of ice cubes for sale in Beijing now, and it is no problem to bring dozens or even hundreds of carts of ice cubes every day to cool down. He can afford the money.

He waited and waited until July.

On the 7th month of the lunar calendar, around the hour of You, it was almost dark. The Emperor Wanli was enjoying dinner with his concubines, princes, and princesses in Kunning Palace when Li Xuancheng suddenly poked his head in and said, "Your Majesty, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Yu Zigao, requests an audience."

This kid is finally back.

Wanli quickly put down his chopsticks and stood up, saying, "You guys eat slowly, I'll go talk to Kemai."

After saying that, he walked out quickly.

At this moment, Yu Zigao was standing outside the imperial study waiting.

Seeing him standing there alone, Wanli frowned and asked, "Kemai, doesn't Li Dan want to come with you to the capital to meet the emperor?"

no.

Yu Zigao even forgot to salute. He hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, no, Li Dan is here. The problem is that he is the pirate leader. I don't know if I can bring him directly to the palace to see Your Majesty, so I asked him to wait outside."

You kid, you are so stupid. Do you think I am afraid of a pirate leader?

I'm not afraid of shit.

Wanli waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and bring him to the emperor."

Yu Zigao hurriedly bowed and took his leave, then ran out of the palace.

Not long after, he led two men in naval uniforms and hurried in. He clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Li Dan and Li Guozhu are here."

Li Dan and Li Guozhu quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you."

One of these two people looks to be in his thirties and the other looks to be in his twenties. They don't look like father and son.

Wanli raised his hand to let them level, then asked, "Li Dan, is this your son?"

Li Dan shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, Your Majesty, Guozhu is my nephew, and I have no children."

Oh, so he had no children. If Li Dan had a son, he would not have passed the business to his adopted son Zheng Zhilong.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Have you decided to submit to the court?"

How dare I not surrender?

This guy Yu Zigao brought his men to surround my hometown.

Besides, the conditions you offer are much higher than those guys'.

Li Dan nodded repeatedly and said, "From now on, I will obey Your Majesty. Whatever Your Majesty tells me to do, I will do it."

Well, you know the truth.

Then let me show my loyalty first.

Wanli asked directly, "Who did you listen to in the past? Or, in other words, who was your backer in the court?"

Li Dan said without hesitation: "I used to listen to Shen Weijing. I didn't know who the backer was in the court. Shen Weijing never told me. I just transported goods, did business and handed over the profits." Shen Weijing?
This guy seemed to be responsible for negotiating peace with the Japanese pirates in history.

However, Shen Weijing was not a court official, but appeared suddenly.

Upon hearing this, Wanli was quite curious and asked, "Shen Weijing didn't even tell you who his backer was, so why did you listen to him and even hand over your profits to him?"

How do you say this?

Li Dan explained in detail, "Your Majesty, Shen Weijing comes from a prominent Pinghu family, the Qingxi Shen family. His father, Shen Kun, is in charge of overseas business, so naturally I have to obey him."

This guy also comes from a prominent family in Pinghu?

Wanli couldn't help but ask curiously, "Is the Pinghu Shen family very famous? Why haven't I heard of them?"

How do you say this?

No matter how famous they are, they can never be more famous than your Zhu Ming royal family.

Li Dan was extremely cautious, fearing that he would say something wrong.

Because he heard that the current emperor had a bad temper and would chop people down at any time. He was the pirate leader, and if he said something wrong, he might be dragged out and chopped off.

He thought about it carefully, then said carefully: "The Pinghu Shen family is indeed quite famous in the southeast. They have produced nine Jinshi (imperial examination) scholars. From the Xuande Dynasty when Pinghu was established as a county until the Jiajing Dynasty, the Shen family has always had people serving in the court.

Shen Weijing's uncle, Shen Yuan, had served as the prefect of Huizhou, Guangdong during the Jiajing reign. However, after the Jiajing reign, no one from their family passed the imperial examination, so they were sent by their superiors to manage overseas business.

Who are the people above them?
Wanli really wanted to know this.

He thought for a moment, then asked, "Who do you think is superior, the Pinghu Lu family or the Pinghu Shen family?"

Is there any need to ask this?

Li Dan said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, among the famous families in Pinghu, the Lingxi Lu family is the best. The Qingxi Shen family is no match for them.

The Lingxi Lu family has been one of the four great families in Jiangnan since the Han Dynasty. Lu Ji, the governor of the Eastern Wu, Lu Xun, the Grand Commander-in-Chief and Left Prime Minister of the Eastern Wu, and Lu Bing, the current emperor's Junior Guardian, the Prince's Grand Tutor, the Left Commander-in-Chief, and the Jinyiwei Commander-in-Chief, are all from the Pinghu Lu family.

Lu Ji, Lu Xun, Lu Bing!
Lu Guangzu has such a powerful background?
I can't see it, I really can't see it.

The Pinghu Lu family was one of the four great families in Jiangnan more than a thousand years ago. Could they be the backers of the pirates?

Forget it, this guy doesn’t know what’s going on up there, so it’s useless to ask. I might as well ask something useful.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "Pirates in the southeast have never stopped, right?"

Oops, I asked about pirates, be careful.

Li Dan thought about it carefully, then said carefully: "Your Majesty, I am not very clear about the period before the Jiajing Dynasty. Since the Jiajing Dynasty, the pirates in the southeast have indeed never stopped. From Wang to Xu Hai, Xu Dong, and Lin Feng, they are all notorious.

Your Majesty, I am different from them. I am just an honest merchant transporting goods. I have never brought anyone ashore to rob, nor have I ever harmed a single civilian."

You are indeed different. If you had any bad record, I would not consider recruiting you.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Did you take over Lin Feng's job?"

What's going on?

Li Dan gritted his teeth and nodded, "Yes, once Lin Feng gained some strength, he became increasingly arrogant. The higher-ups couldn't control him anymore, so they mobilized the imperial army to encircle and suppress Lin Feng. He tried to escape, but was killed by the higher-ups."

Oh, it turns out that Lin Feng was killed by his own people. No wonder he suddenly disappeared.

To be honest, these pirates are really difficult to suppress because the sea area is too vast and no matter how many ships we have, we can't surround them.

In fact, Wang Zhi and Xu Hai were both tricked into coming ashore and killed, and Lin Feng was also killed by his own people. He was not wiped out at all.

Wanli pondered this carefully and said, "The reason why pirates can never be eradicated is because the profits from overseas trade are enough to make you risk your lives, right?"

I didn't get much of this profit.

However, even if it is only 10% in total, it is enough for us to risk our lives for it.

Li Dan nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. The profits from this overseas business are indeed enough to make people risk their lives."

Wanli sighed, "So, the encirclement and suppression was wrong, right?"

Uh, how should I respond to your question?

Li Dan thought about it carefully, then had an idea. He quickly said, "Your Majesty is wise. Encirclement and suppression are really useless. This overseas business is so profitable. No matter how hard we try, there will always be people who take the risk. Only if Your Majesty takes over this business will the pirates be stopped."

Well, that's good, quite smart, and hits the point.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said solemnly: "Then you can help me do all this overseas business, how about it?"

What else could it be?

Now that I'm here, let's get started!
If I say I don't want to do it, you'll definitely kill me.

Li Dan nodded repeatedly and said, "I will obey Your Majesty. I will do whatever Your Majesty says."

Well, good, promising.

(End of this chapter)