Chapter 436 435 Two Places

If it is said that before, Emperor Jiajing still had illusions about Hu Zongxian and hoped that he could quell the Japanese invasion, but now, although he still did not give up, he was no longer so persistent.

Emperor Jiajing did not care whether Hu Zongxian could do it or not, he only looked at the results.

At least so far, Hu Zongxian's answer was very bad.

He had been in power in Jiangnan for many years, not only did he not solve the Japanese invasion, but now he had forced Jiangnan to the point of rebellion, which was something he could not tolerate as an emperor.

If he could not manage things and was causing trouble, what was the point of coming?

Unintentionally, the support that Yan Song relied on to maintain the throne of the Prime Minister had collapsed in the heart of Emperor Jiajing, and now the only thing left was that trace of affection.

In any case, over the years, Emperor Jiajing had asked for whatever he wanted from the Ministry of Revenue, and Yan Song had tried every means to guarantee it. If he was replaced, would such days continue?

Huang Jin naturally did not know what Emperor Jiajing was thinking, but he also felt that Hu Zongxian's official position was probably a little shaky.

Although Hu Zongxian held a high position, it was not an exaggeration to say that he was a frontier official, but he had little favor with the emperor. He had never served in the court. After observing the government, he was sent out. The emperor only knew about him through memorials.

As for other things, it is more appropriate to say that he had worked hard rather than meritorious.

In recent years, apart from stabilizing the defense line against Japanese pirates in Jiangnan and defeating several leading Japanese pirates, he had made no achievements. The Japanese threat remained, which was a manifestation of his ability.

The night in Xiyuan was still quiet. No one knew the conversation in the hall, and no one would understand the thoughts of Emperor Jiajing at this moment.

"How many days have passed? Is there no news from Taizhou?"

At this time, Hu Zongxian was also anxious in the governor's office in Hangzhou.

This time, a large group of Japanese pirates came across the sea. Hu Zongxian had sent people to find out their details. They were all the people under the command of Wang Zhi. The only difference from the past was that this time they did not act together with the Japanese pirates in Fujian and Guangdong.

However, these are not what Hu Zongxian is really worried about. There are only a few thousand Japanese pirates. There are nearly 4,000 soldiers trained by Qi Jiguang and Tan Lun, as well as soldiers from local garrisons. The Ming army still has the advantage in numbers.

But this does not make him completely relieved, because the government has received news a few days ago that the Japanese pirates and the coastal people have been conspiring. Rather than saying that thousands of Japanese pirates and dozens of warships are here to rob, it is better to say that they are here to help them start a rebellion.

The instability of the coastal people is what he is most worried about.

The Japanese pirates are easy to suppress, but the people rebel, which is a direct death.

Obviously, the news of the rebellion in Fujian has spread to Zhejiang, and the people of Zhejiang who have suffered so much can no longer sit still.

Although it is not known how many people will eventually participate in the riot, Hu Zongxian understands that this person must be treated as a Japanese pirate and eliminated, and the real information must not be let know in the capital.

"Dengdengdeng."

There were hurried footsteps outside the house. Hu Zongxian, who was pacing back and forth in the house, suddenly stopped and stood still.

"Sir, the battle report of General Qi on the front line."

The man outside the door reported loudly with a slightly joyful tone.

"Come in quickly, come in and tell me."

When the official came in, Hu Zongxian grabbed the battle report from his hand without waiting for him to reach out. He couldn't wait to read it. As the words in the battle report described, Hu Zongxian couldn't help but whisper.

"On the 19th, Fenghua, Ninghai, Taizhou"

When he read out the place names one by one, Hu Zongxian couldn't help but frown.

This battle was different from what he had initially expected. According to common practice, the primary targets of the Japanese pirates were usually the wealthy Ningbo and Wenzhou. However, Qi Jiguang judged that the Japanese pirates landed near Ningbo in order to attract the Ming army to rush to Ningbo for rescue. The ultimate goal might be Taizhou Prefecture and Wenzhou Prefecture, so he sent someone to inform Zhejiang General Lu Tong and Lieutenant General Niu Tianxi.

Hu Zongxian knew Qi Jiguang's plan as soon as he thought about it. Lu Tong led his troops to garrison Ningbo at this time, while Lieutenant General Niu Tianxi led his troops to garrison Wenzhou. Qi Jiguang planned to bet that the Japanese pirates would attack the two places in small groups to attract reinforcements from the Ming army, and he bet that the Japanese pirates' target was Taizhou Prefecture.

By informing the two, he could let go and fight the Japanese pirates in Taizhou Prefecture. Regardless of the final victory or loss, at least he could clear Ningbo and Wenzhou of their relationship.

But this was not important. He understood the generals' little tricks. For Hu Zongxian, he just wanted news of victory.

Keep reading, and soon there will be a report on the battle situation.

The Japanese pirates attacked Taizhou in three routes. One route landed at Lipu and intended to attack Taozhu; one route landed at Zhouyang Port and intended to attack Xinhe; and one route anchored at Jiantiao and Qitou.

So Tang Yaochen, the military assistant, was ordered to lead the troops of Haimen and Taizhou to rescue Xinhe, and he led the main force to first suppress the enemy in Ninghai, and then annihilate the Japanese pirates in Taozhu, Jiantiao and other places.

On the 26th, Tang Yaochen, the military assistant, led about 2,000 troops to fight fiercely with the Japanese pirates in Xinhe. After the enemy was defeated, the remaining Japanese pirates fled to Wenling. On the second day, they were defeated again in Xintang near Wenling. The remaining Japanese pirates fled to Yueqing in the fog.

While the fierce battle in Xinhe was going on, Qi Jiguang had gathered his troops to annihilate the invading Japanese pirates from Xianninghai, and quickly turned to reinforce Taizhou. On the 27th, they encountered the Japanese pirates in Huajie near Taizhou City. Qi's army fought quickly and annihilated the invading enemy, killing more than a thousand Japanese pirates, beheading more than 300, capturing two pirate leaders, drowning many Japanese pirates, seizing more than hundreds of weapons, and rescuing more than 5,000 abducted men and women.

"More than 5,000 people."

The number of people rescued mentioned in Qi Jiguang's battle report shocked Hu Zongxian. What he was most worried about was that these people were the internal response of the Japanese pirates.

However, it is good to have this battle report. At least it can clear them of suspicion of being the accomplices of the Japanese pirates. Even if an imperial censor knows the details in the future, he can calm the matter down by showing Qi Jiguang's battle report.

Now the remnants of the Japanese pirates have retreated to the seaside. In order to prevent the Japanese pirates from boarding ships and escaping and raiding other places, Qi Jiguang stationed troops outside Taizhou City and planned to wait for an opportunity to act.

"Good, good, good."

After reading Qi Jiguang's battle report, Hu Zongxian was so excited that he could not express it in words.

With this victory in Taizhou Prefecture, he could finally give an explanation to the court.

At this time, there were dense footsteps outside the house. Soon, his staff Xu Wei and others had entered the house. Hu Zongxian handed Qi Jiguang's battle report to Xu Wei and said, "Take a look. Our initial judgment was wrong. It seems that the Japanese pirates' target this time is really Taizhou."

Before, the officials of the Governor's Office believed that the Japanese pirates' target was Ningbo Prefecture. First, it was rich, and second, it was close to Zhoushan Islands, which was convenient for escape. Even if they received news that the people along the coast seemed to be colluding with the Japanese pirates to cause chaos, they did not dare to believe it because it was vague.

Now, regardless of whether the news is true or false, as long as the invading Japanese pirates are wiped out, even if the people really have the intention to rebel, they will not be able to make a big wave.

Under the absolute pressure of force, Hu Zongxian did not believe that the people were really not afraid of death.

Just like the people in Huajie, Hu Zongxian was worried that they were actually rebels who colluded with the Japanese pirates before. Now think about it, it is still too much. Judging from their current performance, when they see the Ming army coming, aren't they also the people who are plundered by the Japanese pirates?

Soon, a group of staff had finished reading Qi Jiguang's battle report, and then they discussed in a low voice for a while, and then Xu Wei stepped forward and said to Hu Zongxian: "Sir, judging from the current situation, the main force of the Japanese pirates has appeared in Taizhou Prefecture. It is true that Ningbo and Wenzhou are small groups of Japanese pirates. You can send someone to quickly inform Lu Tong and Niu Tianxi and let them lead the army to eliminate those Japanese pirates."

"That's what I mean, Wenchang, you will write the official document and send it out immediately."

Xu Wei, Xu Wenchang, has been praised as a "child prodigy" since he was a child. He is also a writer, calligrapher, painter, dramatist, and military strategist in the mid-Ming Dynasty.

Xu Wei is versatile and unique in poetry, drama, calligraphy and painting. He is known as the "Three Talents of the Ming Dynasty" together with Xie Jin and Yang Shen.

He is the founder of China's "splashing ink freehand painting school" and the originator of the "Qingteng painting school". His paintings can absorb the essence of the predecessors and be reborn. He does not seek to be similar in form but in spirit. He is good at landscapes, figures, flowers and birds, bamboo and rocks. Flowers are the most outstanding. He created a generation of painting style and had a great influence on the painting world of later generations.

He is good at cursive writing and has written a large number of poems and essays. He is known as "a talented person of the Ming Dynasty". He can play the piano, is familiar with music, and loves opera. His "Nan Ci Xulu" is the first theoretical monograph on Nanxi in China. There are also miscellaneous dramas "Four Tones of Monkeys" and "Songs of Xiao" and collections of essays handed down.

However, Xu Wei's luck in the imperial examination was not good, and he failed the provincial examinations repeatedly.

The provincial examination was indeed the most difficult hurdle for ancient scholars to pass. It not only requires literary talent, but also luck. When Xu Wei was lucky, he only passed the first test and failed the second test.

In the winter of the 37th year of Jiajing, Xu Wei was appreciated by Governor Hu Zongxian. After many invitations, Xu Wei finally entered the shogunate and served as Hu Zongxian's staff.

Hu Zongxian admired Xu Wei for his calligraphy and painting talents. When he first entered the shogunate, he created "Presenting the White Deer Memorial" and sent it to the Western Garden, which was appreciated by Emperor Jiajing.

Although it was said in later generations that Xu Wei was good at military affairs and helped Hu Zongxian plan against Japanese pirates such as Xu Hai and Wang Zhi, it seems unlikely from the time he entered the Governor's Office.

However, Xu Wei was indeed respected by Hu Zongxian, and many official documents were handled by him after he entered the shogunate.

The things in Zhejiang were naturally unknown in the capital. When Wei Guangde entered the Prince Yu's Palace as a lecturer, he had already completed the requirements of Emperor Jiajing, but he still stayed in the Prince's Palace and did not miss any of the scheduled classes.

However, what neither Yin Shizhan nor Zhang Juzheng knew was that every time Wei Guangde gave lectures to Prince Yu, it was actually more like the two of them were discussing, and even conspiring on how to safely open the sea ban and earn money for the court to solve financial problems.

To increase the court's fiscal revenue, the first choice is naturally to increase taxes, but Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang made very light taxes and labor service a custom, and his descendants were not allowed to change it. After that, the taxes and labor service burden borne by the people was actually the number that Zhu Yuanzhang paid to the court in the early Ming Dynasty, which did not change much.

However, his "customization" was the death of his descendants. The Ming Dynasty had low taxes and labor service, but there were many miscellaneous taxes, which only enriched the local areas and impoverished the central government.

With the ancestral system, it is naturally impossible to increase the court's revenue by taxes and labor service, unless the emperor has extraordinary prestige.

Apart from this, there is naturally only one way to increase revenue, and now Prince Yu and Wei Guangde are optimistic about increasing maritime trade, so as to collect tariffs and earn money.

Lifting the sea ban is actually robbing the money of the coastal gentry. There must be great resistance, so it is definitely not possible to open it from the beginning, and rules need to be set on how to distribute the collected money.

For this reason, Wei Guangde, who came later, naturally knew how to solve it, that is, boiling a frog in warm water, little by little.

First, set up a special zone to let the court see the benefits, and the resistance will naturally decrease, especially Wei Guangde proposed that if the tariff revenue is large enough, it can also be used as bait to increase salaries to make more officials support opening the sea.

In their discussion, it is natural to choose a place at the beginning, and the scale must be deliberately controlled, the purpose is to reduce income.

The trade volume is not large, and the tariffs are not much, so the local governments will naturally not come in to compete for the share. At that time, the inner court and the Ministry of Revenue can get the biggest piece of the cake, and the remaining small piece can be thrown to the local governments.

The rules have been established, and we will decide whether to increase the efforts and seek benefits after seeing the results.

For the things they talked about, even the eunuch Li Fang was kept in the dark by Prince Yu, which was also the purpose that Wei Guangde wanted to achieve.

Only in this way can his position in Prince Yu's mind be more important, because he is one of them.

Unlike Gao Gong, he has a friendship with Prince Yu for many years, and he does not have the support of a big boss behind Zhang Juzheng, so he can only think of these ways.

Time quietly entered July of the 40th year of Jiajing. The Japanese pirates who invaded Ningbo, Taizhou and Wenzhou were wiped out. Hu Zongxian summoned his generals to discuss matters in the governor's headquarters. Not only did he need to summarize the results of the two-month suppression of the Japanese pirates, but he also needed to prepare to write to the capital to ask for merits for the generals.

At this time, publicly commending merits naturally also had the purpose of winning over these people.

Everyone can discuss face to face, and rank the merits according to the results of the battle, first merit, second merit. Everyone can speak with confidence based on the heads and spoils handed in, and the frustrated people dare not say anything in private.

In fact, for these generals, the first merit of this anti-Japanese war is undisputed, and it is naturally Qi Jiguang who fought in Taizhou Prefecture.

After defeating the three Japanese pirates, he defeated the Japanese pirates in Datian again in early May. When the Japanese pirates fled west, he set up an ambush at Shangfengling, a place where the Japanese pirates must pass, and waited for the Japanese pirates to pass through the narrow valley, and suddenly attacked and defeated them.

In the middle of the month, in Changsha, southeast of Wenling, the land and sea cooperated to annihilate the remnants of the Japanese pirates in one fell swoop.

This battle was also the first time that Qi Jiguang commanded the navy and army. What made Hu Zongxian happy was that since Yu Dayou was convicted, he finally discovered that Qi Jiguang also had the ability to command water battles.

Although Qi Jiguang modestly said that he did not know much about water battles, it still could not stop Hu Zongxian's determination.

Qi Jiguang is a good person, knowledgeable and interesting. This is the consensus of Zhejiang officials, and there will not be much resistance to his promotion.

Compared with the aging Lu Tong, Hu Zongxian is more optimistic about Qi Jiguang, and the 3,000 recruits he trained this time are quite powerful and can be of great use.

In April, May and June, the Japanese pirates made a big fuss in Zhejiang and Fujian. As time enters July, the government can finally have a little peace for two months. After that, it will be the small flood season in September and October. There will also be Japanese pirate activities in these two months, but the scale is generally much smaller.

Looking at the Zhejiang civil and military officials sitting in the hall, Hu Zongxian was in high spirits, raised his glass, and shouted loudly: "Everyone, thanks to your majesty's great blessing, everyone has made outstanding contributions to the suppression of the Japanese pirates this time. Drink this cup first, and we will discuss the merits and report to the capital later."