prosperous age

Chapter 290 Chapter 289
"Whoa Whoah"

The sound of a big boat piercing the water sounded, and on the Wanli Yangtze River, a big boat was moving fast down the river.

The Jiujiang mansion behind him gradually went away, and Wei Guangde stood at the stern of the boat looking at the direction of his home in silence.

This was the third day after he and Xu Jianglan got married, and according to the rules, Xu Jianglan had to be sent home.

Now it is the twelfth lunar month, and the New Year is approaching, the Yangtze River is no longer prosperous in the past, there are not many boats coming and going, and the bitter cold wind on the river, not long after, Wei Guangde felt his hands and feet were cold.

At this moment, he felt footsteps behind him, and before he could turn around to see who it was, he smelled a fresh fragrance, and a cloak was draped over his shoulders.

"It's windy outside, you should stay in the cabin."

When Wei Guangde was talking, he turned around and looked at the wonderful person behind him. It was his wife Xu Jianglan who had just married. After hearing Wei Guangde's words, he just pursed his lips and smiled.

Although she is seventeen years old, she is tall and slender, with a plump figure. After getting in touch with her, Wei Guangde found that her words and deeds are elegant.

When talking to her, Xu Jianglan's beautiful eyes looked forward, and there was an indescribable charm between her frown and smile, just like a peony in bud, beautiful but not delicate, gorgeous but not vulgar, charming and charming, incomparable.

At this time, she was wearing a pink palace dress, with a plain satin ribbon around her waist that could be easily grasped, which further accentuated her graceful figure. Her black hair was like lacquer and a flying star was chasing the moon. She did not wear too much makeup. Ruyu, curling Tingting.

Just being blown by the river wind, Xu Jianglan's pretty face turned slightly pale at this moment.

Wei Guangde didn't want to stay here anymore, so he reached out to support her fragrant shoulders and returned to the warm cabin with her.

At this time, Hu Zongxian's memorial to the capture of the pirate leader Wang Zhi had also been sent to the capital, which instantly caused a small sensation in the Tongzheng Envoy, and soon spread to other yamen outside.

Naturally, the Tongzheng envoy did not dare to be negligent, and after copying the copy for archiving, he hastily sent Hu Zongxian’s victory document to the cabinet in person. Facing the heavy snow, he ran quickly to the East Pavilion.

From the 31st year of Jiajing, the name Wang Zhi was spread in the court of Ming Dynasty. It can be said that no one who is an official does not know Wang Zhi.

Because it was from this year that Wang Zhi successively dispatched pirate leaders such as Xu Hai, Chen Dong, Xiao Xian, and Ye Ma to guide the Japanese pirates to invade and plunder eastern Zhejiang, western Zhejiang, Jiangnan, Jiangbei, Fujian and other places.

It can be said that today's Japanese riots in the south of the Yangtze River originated from this person.

What's even more frightening is that after the Japanese pirates plundered many times in the south of the Yangtze River, their targets have now expanded from south to north, and they have appeared many times, harassing Nanzhili, Shandong and other places, causing countless killings.

Well, now that the chief culprit has finally been caught by the officers and soldiers, naturally he cannot be let go lightly. This person is really guilty of serious crimes.

Today, after Hu Zongxian's report was delivered, all the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty looked joyful, excitedly discussing the words that after the capture of the pirate leader Wang Zhi, the Japanese Insurgency would be quelled sooner or later.

Just as the envoy hurried to the cabinet, Yan Song, the chief assistant of the cabinet, frowned at the letter in his hand.

When the letter arrived in his hands, his son Yan Shifan had already opened it and read it, leaving a line of small characters on one side.

The content of the letter was enough to shock the world. The so-called capture turned out to be similar to the previous strategy of dealing with Xu Hai, and it came from deceit.

As for the final disposition of the court, it is natural to ask him Yan Song. Hu Zongxian hopes to save Wang Zhi's life. After all, this person has been overseas for many years and is familiar with the situation of foreign domains, and he knows the whereabouts and hiding places of various pirates.

With the help of Wang Zhi in the campaign to suppress the Japanese, it would naturally be possible to wipe out the rest of the small group of Japanese pirates.

Hu Zongxian naturally knew what to hide and what not to hide. In the letter, he thought that Yan Song had confessed the forgery of the pardon edict. How could he dare to report this matter to the imperial court? , can only be cut first and then played.

For this reason, Hu Zongxian didn't mention a single word in the memorial to Baojie about forging the edict of amnesty.

However, contrary to Hu Zongxian's thoughts, the small words left by Yan Shifan were to punish the thief.

Yan Song has been in office for many years, and he didn't know that the disposal of this matter would have a great impact. From Hu Zongxian's letter, it can be seen that although Wang Zhi was in his hands, Wang Zhi's troops were completely kept at sea and have not been wiped out. Inappropriate, the consequences are really unpredictable.

It's just that Yan Song couldn't think of a complete solution for a while. According to his original intention, he still felt that it was the best policy to keep Wang Zhi and recruit all the pirates under him.

When the scribe outside the door reported to the envoy to see him, Yan Song knew that it must be for Hu Zongxian's victory report, so he resolutely collected the letter and let him pass it in.

By night, the news had already spread throughout the capital, and most people in the officialdom even knew the details.

Hu Zongxian captured Wang Zhi, the leader of the Japanese pirates, and Wang Zhi was willing to surrender. Hu Zongxian actually pleaded for Wang Zhi to allow him to commit crimes and meritorious deeds, and lead the army to exterminate the Japanese pirates. What kind of joke is this?
Did Hu Zongxian drink too much?
Wang Zhi is the biggest Japanese pirate, and to destroy Wang Zhi is to wipe out the Japanese pirates. As for the remaining ministries, there is nothing to be afraid of. With the strength of the government and army, they will naturally sing triumphantly when they dispatch the bandits. Wang Zhi is still needed to help lead the way to suppress the bandits.

Therefore, before Emperor Jiajing issued instructions on Hu Zongxian's memorial, the officials of the DPRK and China had already begun to connect with each other. Their purpose was also very simple. Naturally, they wanted to seek justice for the innocent people who had died tragically since the Japanese pirates rebelled.

Even in later generations, there was still a lot of controversy about whether Wang Zhi should be killed under the circumstances at that time.

In any case, Wang Zhiling was indeed the leader of the Japanese pirates' large-scale raids on Daming, which also made him the talker and leader of the Japanese pirate group.

The numerous crimes committed by Japanese pirates in Daming are too numerous to write down, and it is not an exaggeration to kill him thousands of times.

However, considering the long-term interests of Daming Haijiang Ning, it seems logical that Wang Zhi should be spared.

Using Japanese pirates to control Japanese pirates is similar to later generations using barbarians to control barbarians.

However, most of the courtiers didn't realize this at this time, they were more focused on the front, and no one realized what consequences would be brought about by arresting and killing Wang Zhi.

On the second day, it was another busy day for the Minister of General Affairs, because today the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty submitted their memorials as if they had been beaten with chicken blood, and the content was very consistent. They were all memorials before attacking Hu Zongxian, demanding that the Great Pirate King be severely punished. straight.

In fact, for such a situation, the Secretary of the General Administration was also well prepared, and specially dispatched more scribes to help copy the copy of the memorial, which can be regarded as improving work efficiency.

At this time, Yan Song was very hesitant when the snowflake request to severely punish Wang Zhi flew into the cabinet from the Secretary of the General Administration.

After returning home last night, he had a secret meeting with Yan Shifan. He didn't understand why Yan Shifan would support Yan to punish Wang Zhi. Could it be that he couldn't imagine the consequences of doing so?

But the answer Yan Shifan gave him made him terrified all night, and the reason was naturally Yan Shifan's small calculation.

At this time, Yan Song basically agreed with most of the courtiers. If even the most powerful Japanese pirate Wang Zhibu wanted to submit to the court, then what is the psychology of other Japanese pirates?
As long as Wang Zhibu is dealt with properly, the other small groups of Japanese pirates will certainly not fight when they face the encirclement and suppression by the government and army.

But in Yan Shifan's view, all of this does more harm than good, there is no other benefit.

Nowadays, most of the wealth in Jiangnan belongs to Hu Zongxian's Governor's Mansion and is used to suppress the Japanese. It can be said that Hu Zongxian is the existence of a little emperor in Jiangnan, who wants money and money, and soldiers and soldiers.

But once the Japanese suppression is completed, the entire Jiangnan will gradually return to its original state, and the huge benefits brought by the additional dispatch will no longer exist.

Japanese pirates, if they can exist for a long time, don't seem to be a bad thing.

But what troubled Yan Song the most was that his son's enthusiasm for money, he actually used his friend, ink merchant Luo Longwen, to collude with maritime merchants to secretly carry out maritime trade business.

The imperial court used to secretly sell a lot of silk and other Ming products to sea merchants to earn money, and it was Zhao Wenhua's transaction that let Yan Shifan know the way to make money faster and more profitable, but he suffered from no channels, and this obstacle was in the After he got acquainted with Luo Wenlong, he was successfully solved.

Luo Longwen, like Wang Zhi, who is in Governor Hu Zongxian's Xingyuanli, is from She County, Anhui, a fellow villager, and he is also an old acquaintance with the exterminated pirate Xu Hai.

Luo Longben is a businessman, and he is famous for making ink. The ink he made is "hard as stone, with patterns like rhinoceros, black as lacquer, and a snail is worth tens of thousands of dollars."

In the "Wanli Ye Huo Bian" written by Shen Defu during the Wanli period, it also said: "The price of Xiaohua's ink exceeds that of Gongbi. It is not necessarily true that you can buy one or two inks for a catty of horseshoes."

Even Emperor Jiajing loved his ink, and when the price was the highest, one or two inks could be worth a catty of gold, but even so, there was often no market for it.

Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, used Suhe oil to search for smoke to make ink. Later, Jin Zhangzong bought one or two for a catty of gold, and he was called "the ink demon".

From this point of view, Luo Wenlong is also worthy of the name "Mo Yao".

Before Luo Wenlong got acquainted with Yan Shifan, he was already an ink worker and a businessman. He was not only good at appreciating ancient times, but also heroic and willful, and he liked to make friends with strange people everywhere.

At the same time, because money is easy to come by, he is content with pleasure, and often spends a lot of money in Goulanwa. It is said that Xu Hai met Luo Wenlong in a brothel before he went to sea to become a Japanese pirate, and they became old acquaintances.

He, Wang Zhi, the famous leader of Japanese pirates at that time, and Hu Zongxian, the governor of the south of the Yangtze River, who was in charge of suppressing Japanese pirates, were all fellow villagers. Such people naturally had their own way, and Luo Wenlong gradually became one of the maritime merchants.

Commodities collected from all over the Ming Dynasty were trafficked to overseas markets by Japanese pirates for profit, which was naturally the most profitable industry during this period. Although the risk at sea was high, it was naturally not worth mentioning compared to the huge profits.

When the people in the south of the Yangtze River were suffering heavily due to the Japanese invasion, the Japanese pirates, Hu Zongxian's family and the maritime merchants made a lot of money from it and enjoyed huge maritime trade dividends.

However, after Hu Zongxian used him to deceive Xu Hai and finally caused Xu Hai's death, Luo Wenlong gradually saw the details of Hu Zongxian. He was someone who could give up everything for the sake of fame.

Morality, nonexistent.

You only need to say that you are "one-hearted for the public" to cover up the countless idiots he has done, and other people who speak will naturally break some limits because they are indeed planning the war to suppress the Japanese and have considerable military exploits. Think he's right.

At this time, Luo Wenlong chose to leave Jiangnan and go to the north, to Beijing, the political center of the empire.

The purpose of his coming here is naturally not to organize the supply of goods to continue the sea trade, but to realize something else from Hu Zongxian's deception of Xu Hai.

That is power. As long as you have power in your hands, many evil things can be explained with another kind of rhetoric, and the past can be perfectly covered up.

Luo Wenlong still has a bit of loyalty in nature, so he naturally despises people like Hu Zongxian who don't pay attention to things.

However, he didn't break up with Hu Zongxian because of this, but just ran to Beijing city at a respectful distance.

Luo Wenlong's spending a lot of money in the capital naturally also attracted the attention of the capital snakes, but he met Zhao Wenhua through Hu Zongxian before, and then had some contact with the Yan family.

Now that Luo Wenlong lives in the capital, it is natural that he first pays homage to the gate of the Yan family.

Yan Shifan naturally has a good impression of such a man with such a big shot, and the two people's life style is very similar, they are both extravagant and lustful, and they soon become chatterboxes. good buddies.

Taking advantage of his own identity, Yan Shifan not only helped Luo Wenlong get the official status of the secretary in the cabinet, but also got a better understanding of the huge profits of the sea trade through Luo Wenlong.

The previous silk trade was handled by Zhao Wenhua, and he would naturally get a lot of profits afterwards, but from the information obtained from Luo Wenlong, it seems that if he really gets involved in this business, the profits will be even higher.

As a result, he began to have other ideas about the Japanese riots in the south of the Yangtze River.

It is indeed rare for my father to be in front of Emperor Jiajing's holy family, but this also makes their family a target of public criticism. Whether it is jealousy or hatred, there are many people who flatter their own family in the court, but there are also many people who oppose their family. Kill endlessly.

Such a situation naturally made him, who is familiar with history books, also have a grudge, worrying that one day the holy family will no longer be there, and the consequences will be quite serious.

The troops in the south of the Yangtze River under Hu Zongxian's control are, no matter what, a guarantee for the Yan family to settle down in the capital, which makes sense in Yan Shifan's view.

Even if the imperial court can still order most of the people in Jiangnan, as long as a few are controlled by the Yan family through Hu Zongxian, causing a major turmoil in Jiangnan during the critical period, many crises can be resolved.

And once the success of the suppression of Japanese in the south of the Yangtze River is complete, for example, if Hu Zongxian is transferred to the capital, the soldiers and horses in the south of the Yangtze River will also be disbanded and returned to their original places, and their foreign aid will no longer exist.

Can Yan Song not be worried when he heard his analysis from Yan Shifan?

Those few back then, except Mr. Zhang, who died long ago, were fine. Later, when it came to dealing with Xia Yan, Emperor Jiajing's methods were also ruthless. No matter how useful Xia Yan was to him at the beginning, he was also ruthless when it was time to take action. Extremely severe.

It's not that Yan Song doesn't understand, but that he doesn't want to think about it.

But as soon as his son reminded him, he had to take this matter seriously.

Yan Song's psychological balance gradually shifted to a direction he thought was inappropriate.

(End of this chapter)