A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

After the ambush, the Embroidered Uniform Guard captured a wounded pirate.

The men of the Embroidered Uniform Guard managed to pry open the pirate's mouth.

It wasn't pried open with torture instruments.

They had no water for three days, and on the fourth day they fed him half a bowl of porridge.

Before he even got a sip of the porridge, he was completely dead.

As Liu Jingshuang sat in the makeshift tent reading the confession, it was still raining outside, and the tent roof was flapping loudly in the wind.

The statement was short, but she read every sentence twice.

The leader of the pirates was named Ke Zhenchuan.

Former naval vice admiral.

When she saw those four words, her finger paused on the paper for a moment.

The former naval vice admiral.

He wasn't from a fishing family, nor was he a scoundrel who crawled out of a pirate's den; he was a proper soldier.

No wonder those pirates were so disciplined when they landed: they robbed government granaries but not the poor, they didn't linger in battle or venture too deep, and they ran away as soon as they finished fighting.

This is not the nature of a pirate.

This is a level of awareness that only those who have trained in military affairs possess.

Liu Jingshuang continued reading.

After the fall of the Great Wei, Ke Zhenchuan led several hundred sailors out to sea.

Over the course of several years, they gathered coastal bandits, scattered soldiers, and fugitives, growing their numbers from a few hundred to tens of thousands.

He was strict in disciplining his troops, and the pirates all called him "General Ke," not "boss" or "chief."

Call him General.

Liu Jingshuang turned to the last page of the confession.

The spy who conducted the interrogation added a sentence at the end of the paper, which he had extracted from the pirate.

Ke Zhenchuan once told his confidants that he did not intend to be a pirate for the rest of his life.

He planned to wait until the situation in the Xinwu court became more chaotic, then lead his troops to carve out a territory along the southeast coast and establish himself as king.

After reading this sentence, Liu Jingshuang closed the confession.

The only sound inside the tent was the patter of rain on the fabric. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes briefly.

It controlled the southeast.

She felt more at ease.

What I fear is that the other party has no purpose and bites indiscriminately like a mad dog.

Having a purpose makes things easier; only those with a purpose will calculate, and those who calculate have weaknesses.

Ke Zhenchuan doesn't rob the poor in order to avoid alienating the people.

The reason for not venturing deep inland is to avoid a direct confrontation with Xinwu.

They looted and left quickly to conserve their strength and wait for the right opportunity.

He is raising [the animal].

To maintain an army, to maintain ships, and to cultivate a reputation.

When Xinwu no longer has time to care about the southeast, he will come from the sea and swallow the three prefectures whole.

Liu Jingshuang opened her eyes.

"A former naval vice admiral, no wonder his fighting style is so disciplined."

The lieutenant next to him had just brought in a bowl when he heard this and almost spilled the porridge.

"General?"

"Call someone here."

Liu Jingshuang stood up and slammed the confession on the table: "All officers and above, arrive within half an hour."

The lieutenant put down the bowl, turned around, and ran away.

Half an hour later, a dozen officers squeezed into the tent.

Some people hadn't even fastened their buttons properly, while others were still clutching half a pancake in their hands.

Liu Jingshuang spoke before they had all stood in line.

"Starting tomorrow, all ports and docks along the coast will be locked down."

The tent fell silent.

Someone opened their mouth, then closed it again.

Liu Jingshuang glanced around: "Reclaim the ships, halt merchant shipping, and have all fishermen go ashore. If any pirates dare approach the port, fire crossbows at them. If they don't, let them drift at sea."

One of the captains couldn't hold back any longer: "General, the merchant ships have stopped. What will happen to the salt and grain from the three prefectures?"

"By land."

"Road travel is so slow—"

"Slow is better than nothing."

Liu Jingshuang looked at him, her tone not harsh, but no one dared to respond:

"Didn't Ke Zhenchuan want to go ashore and rob? Let him rob the air. With the port locked down, his men can't come ashore, they can't grab food, water, or even a piece of firewood. What will his ten thousand or so men eat and drink while adrift at sea?"

The tent was quiet for a few moments.

The lieutenant's face changed color several times, but he finally swallowed it down.

He understood.

This isn't defense, it's stagnation. No matter how skilled Ke Zhenchuan's men are, they can't live off seawater.

As long as he isn't allowed to touch a single grain of food on the shore, time will be on Xinwu's side.

But this method is too ruthless.

It not only trapped the pirates, but also the people of the three prefectures.

Coastal fishermen rely on the sea for their livelihood, but they are not allowed to leave their boats or fish. How are they supposed to make a living?

Liu Jingshuang knew what he was thinking.

She had thought about it too.

But she had no better option. She fought Ke Zhenchuan on the shore, but he would run away after he finished.

They chased them out to sea, but Xinwu's large ship couldn't catch up.

The only way out is to trap him at sea, forcing him to either surrender or starve to death.

As for the common people, she had already ordered the grain from the official granaries to be transferred inland.

Fishermen may not be able to eat fish for the time being, but they won't starve to death.

As for when the lockdown will be lifted, that depends on when Ke Zhenchuan can no longer hold on.

"This order shall be issued tonight and sent to all ports in the three states before dawn."

Liu Jingshuang said, "Any ship still at sea that hasn't returned must dock within three days. If it's still out there after three days, it will be treated as a pirate."

The captains exchanged glances, and no one uttered a sound.

After everyone dispersed, only Liu Jingshuang remained in the tent.

She sat back in her chair, looked at the confession on the table, and pressed her finger on the words "establish herself as king".

Ke Zhenchuan wants to be king.

She sneered inwardly.

The previous dynasty is gone, yet he still dreams of being king.

This person does have some skill, but he chose the wrong place and the wrong time.

Wei Zhao was not Emperor Yuanxi.

Xinwu is not the Great Wei either.

He wanted to wait until the court was in chaos before taking advantage of the situation, but the new regime wouldn't let him get his hands on it.

Liu Jingshuang took a blank sheet of paper, picked up her pen, and dipped it in ink.

She wanted to write a letter to Ke Zhenchuan.

It's not about scolding him, nor is it about advising him.

It means to make things clear.

She wrote quickly as her pen touched the paper; her handwriting wasn't beautiful, but every stroke was firm and solid.

"Ke Zhenchuan—"

"It's not shameful for you to be a pirate with the foundation of the previous dynasty's navy. Being able to hold out at sea for a few years and gather scattered bandits into tens of thousands of men is quite an achievement."

She paused. Not out of hesitation, but to consider how harsh her next words should be.

"But you want to carve out your own territory in the southeast? I'm telling you—it's impossible."

The pen tip fell again.

"I'm guarding the shore with 20,000 cavalry; you can't get down. All the ports in the three prefectures are locked down; not a single ship will be allowed to leave. If your men can't get into the ports, tens of thousands of them will be adrift at sea, and you'll be the only one who starves to death."

She looked at those lines and added another sentence.

"You have a knack for training troops and are strict in disciplining them. If you surrender, Xinwu will have no shortage of positions for you. If you don't surrender—"

The pen paused for a moment.

"Then let's think it through slowly at sea."

Signed: Liu Jingshuang, General of the Eastern Garrison.

She dried the letter, folded it, and sealed it in an oilcloth.

"Someone come here."

The guards entered.

"Find a small boat and deliver this letter to the pirates' flagship."

The guard was stunned: "Send him to the pirates?"

"Yes. Find a brave fisherman, give him fifty taels of silver. Tie the letter in a bamboo tube and throw it onto the deck of Ke Zhenchuan's flag boat. Run away after throwing it, no need to wait for a reply."

The guard acknowledged, took the letter, and turned to leave.

Liu Jingshuang sat in the tent, watching the man's figure disappear into the rain.

She knew that this letter might not necessarily make Ke Zhenchuan surrender.

A man who has been at sea for years and still wants to be king cannot be intimidated by a single letter.

But she didn't expect a letter to solve the problem.

The letter was delivered to Ke Zhenchuan, but also to his subordinates.

Ke Zhenchuan wants to be king, but what about his ten thousand men?

How many of them genuinely want to drift at sea with him for the rest of their lives?

Among those people were fugitives, refugees, fishermen who had been coerced, and descendants of sailors from the previous dynasty.

They followed Ke Zhenchuan because they had no other choice.

Now she has provided a way.

Surrender, and you'll have a chance to survive. Don't surrender, and you'll starve to death at sea.

This multiple-choice question isn't difficult.

The difficulty lies in whether Ke Zhenchuan himself is willing to back down.

Liu Jingshuang leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.