Chapter 727 826 Rumors

During the middle and late Ming Dynasty, due to the decline of tribute trade and the rise of private trade, many big pirates, or Japanese pirates, emerged.

Initially, the leader of the Japanese pirates was Wang Zhi.

Wang Zhi, also known as Wang Zhi, was from Xiongcun Takulin, She County, Huizhou Prefecture, Nanzhili. His real name was Zeng, and his nickname was Wufeng Shipowner.

The court's maritime ban policy interrupted maritime trade. Wang Zhi gathered his gang members and Japanese ronin to form a smuggling team and called himself the King of Huizhou.

It was under his leadership that the Japanese invasion of the Ming Dynasty became more and more serious, and he became a thorn in the eyes of the court.

But looking at his actions, apart from the initial battle with the Ming court, most of the time he focused on restoring the maritime trade that was interrupted by the court.

Wang Zhi was later recruited by Hu Zongxian, the then governor of Zhejiang, and his staff member Xu Wei, but was captured by Wang Bengu, the then Zhejiang Provincial Inspector, and finally the court ordered him to be beheaded.

After nearly 20 years of suppressing the Japanese pirates, the Ming court suffered great losses in Jiangnan. However, in the Longqing Dynasty, with the destruction of the pirate Wu Ping's army, the remnants were incorporated by Zeng Yiben, making Zeng Yiben the last pirate active in the Jiajing and Longqing years.

Zeng Yiben's army was the most powerful in the early years of Longqing, with more than 200 warships and tens of thousands of people. He once kidnapped the magistrate of Chenghai for three months, plundered and killed thousands of people in Chao County, and attacked Guangzhou City.

In order to completely destroy Zeng Yiben's army, the Ming court also spared no effort to send famous generals to participate in the encirclement and suppression.

At this time, it was late at night, and a huge fleet was advancing quietly on the waterway from Quanzhou to Tuolin.

In order to destroy Zeng Yiben, Admiral Yu Dayou was leading a joint fleet composed of the Fujian Navy and the Guangxi Navy on a journey, and in the farther ocean, the warships of the Guangdong Navy were also coming quickly.

On a huge sealed boat, in a cabin, Yu Dayou did not rest, but sat at the table silently observing a map of Tuolin Port and fell into thought.

The ships he could mobilize for this battle were extremely large, not only 24 newly built sealed boats of the Fujian Navy, but also 80 Dafu ships, 50 Longtan fast ships, a total of 154 warships, and 40 Dafu ships, 40 Dongzi ships, and 20 patrol ships of the Guangxi Navy, a total of 100 warships.

All warships were well equipped, with nearly 500 Portuguese cannons, 20 fire iron cannons, and more than 1,000 bird guns, which can be said to be extremely powerful.

Although it is unknown how many firearms Zeng Yiben had, his fleet was only more than 100, of which less than 30 were large warships. In terms of military strength, the Ming army had an absolute advantage.

After thinking for a long time, Yu Dayou finally made up his mind. He planned to lead the Dafu ship to rush into Tuolin Port with Fengzhou as the leader, and use the powerful firearms equipped on the ship to destroy the Japanese pirates as much as possible, so that they would not escape again. Dozens of Dongzai ships, Longchuan express ships and sentry ships gathered outside the port to intercept the escaping Japanese pirates.

As for whether he was worried that the large ships would be besieged by pirates after entering the port because of the hindered maneuverability of the large ships, Yu Dayou no longer cared about many things.

More than a hundred large ships entered the port. If they still could not defeat the pirate fleet, then it would be better not to mention the encirclement and suppression of the Japanese pirates.

The army broke in, and Zeng Yiben’s troops would be in chaos after being suddenly attacked. When they got together, they were afraid that they would be defeated.

After the strategy was set, Yu Dayou was a little troubled when thinking about how to prevent the pirates in the port from discovering the movements of the Ming army.

The pirates nowadays are no longer the mob they were before. Even if they stop at the shore to rest, the Japanese pirates' patrol boats will be on alert everywhere. They can only destroy these patrol boats quickly and prevent them from going back to report the news. Only then can the army's surprise attack be concealed and cause a huge impact on the pirates in the port.

Thinking of this, Yu Dayou called the guards outside the door, "Go and ask General Li to come over."

The guards took the order and left. Soon Li Xi was called. It seems that he did not sleep at this time.

After all, in the Ming Dynasty where navigation technology was not well developed, the risk of night navigation was extremely high.

If they got lost, it might be better. The most feared thing was to enter a reef area along the coast, which would be dangerous.

Even though most of the people in this fleet were Fujian people who were familiar with the ocean, Li Xi did not dare to relax.

"General Yu."

After Li Xi came in, he just saluted Yu Dayou with his fists.

"General Li, please sit down and talk."

After Yu Dayou got up and welcomed him to sit down, he quickly told him his arrangements.

"In this battle, I plan to lead the way with the Fujian Navy's Longchuan fast boats. Once the Japanese pirates' patrol boats are found, they will be immediately pursued and destroyed to prevent the Japanese pirates from escaping."

"General Yu, is it a bit reckless to send the Fengzhou into the port to fight?"

Li Xi didn't think it was a big deal at first. He sent the Fujian fast boats to lead the charge. After all, they were only facing the Japanese pirates' patrol boats.

Only by fighting fast can we have a chance to destroy the enemy ships instead of letting them escape and report.

But Li Xi found it a bit difficult to accept the Fengzhou rushing into the port. Although Yu Dayou's reasons were very strong, the firepower of the Fengzhou suppressed the Japanese ships in the port, and there were Dafu ships guarding next to them, so the danger had been reduced to a very low level.

"What if the Fengzhou blocked the sea route and Dafu ships and fast boats entered the port to fight?"

Li Xi also expressed his plan.

"The firepower is too weak to completely block the enemy ships in the port. Once they are allowed to go out to sea, Tuolin Port is too wide and it is difficult to prevent the enemy ships from escaping."

Yu Dayou expressed his concerns.

Unlike many ports that only have one or a few narrow channels, Tuolin Port has not only three channels, but also extremely wide channels.

Because it is very convenient to escape, the Japanese pirates in the late Jiajing period often stayed here to rest. Even if they encountered the Ming army, they were not afraid and could escape easily.

"As long as most of their warships are destroyed on the shore, we can also pursue the few ships that escaped.

At that time, we will try to drive them southward and collide with the Guangdong Navy fleet, and the thieves will not be able to escape."

Yu Dayou continued to analyze.

For this battle, Yu Dayou's goal is to destroy as many large ships of Zeng Yiben's army as possible and make them lose the ability to go to sea.

Once there are no large ships, the Japanese pirates' ocean-going maneuverability will be greatly damaged, and it will be easier for the Ming army to gather and annihilate them.

After all, they have short legs. As long as we find their traces and chase them for a few days, we can also wear them out to death on the sea.

"Okay, it's all up to General Yu."

Li Xi finally agreed. It's not that he didn't want to refuse to let Fengzhou enter the port to fight, but he saw the firm and unchangeable determination in Yu Dayou's eyes.

Since he had made up his mind, he was too lazy to persuade him.

After all, it was the court's ship. If Fengzhou suffered heavy losses and the court held him responsible, he would just push it all to Yu Dayou, because he had a backer anyway.

Li Xi did not object. Then the two adjusted the fleet's formation and sent out the dragon boat to warn the pirate patrol boat.

Military orders were issued from the cabin, and the orders were issued by the messenger boat cruising back and forth in the fleet.

However, it was late at night after all. When the order was issued and executed, the sky was getting brighter and the fiery red sun had appeared on the eastern horizon.

In Fujian, not only was the supervisory censor Su Yu worried about the safety of the fleet, but also the governor of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, the right censor Liu Tao, and the governor of Fujian, the right censor Tu Zemin, also knew the news and were nervously waiting for the news of the Ming army fleet.

Wei Mansion in the capital.

"Master, there have been rumors in the capital these two days."

When Wei Guangde was about to go out to the cabinet, as soon as he walked out of the backyard gate, the housekeeper Zhang Ji followed him and said.

"Rumors? What rumors?"

Wei Guangde asked with some surprise, but he was also wondering why the rumors were not said yesterday, but at this time.

Wei Guangde continued to walk towards the gate while talking.

"It's a rumor about Governor Tan."

Zhang Ji hurriedly followed and whispered.

"What? It's about Tan Lun?"

Wei Guangde suddenly stopped, and Zhang Ji almost bumped into him.

Turning to Zhang Ji, he asked, "What is the rumor? Tell me in detail."

"Sir, it's about Governor Tan's memorial to build a watchtower at the beginning of the year. Rumors spread all over the capital that building a watchtower on the border can't stop the invasion of the Tartars and is a waste of the court's money.

It is also said that instead of building 3,000 watchtowers, it is better to cut down trees on the border to make fences to block the horse roads in and out of the border, so that the enemy cavalry can't come and go smoothly. This will not waste the court's money, and the border town can do it itself."

Wei Guangde listened to Zhang Ji's words silently, just frowning.

"Some people also say that instead of building more than 3,000 towers, it is better to build towers on the main roads. Building so many towers is actually someone trying to embezzle the court's money."

"I know."

Zhang Ji said this, Wei Guangde spoke, then turned and walked quickly towards the gate of the mansion.

Although I don't know where this rumor came from, it is obviously aimed at Tan Lun. Is there someone who is interested in the position of Governor of Ji and Liao?

Wei Guangde went out of the mansion and sat in the sedan chair, still thinking about this question, who wants this position and wants to get rid of Tan Lun.

You know, political struggles in the Ming Dynasty often started with rumors.

Now rumors are spread everywhere in the capital, and then the censors of the Censorate will report on the rumors.

As for the future, of course, those with a strong backstage will not be afraid of impeachment by the censors, but those with a weak backstage may make the court reconsider the candidates.

This trick often ends in the end, you may not know who is behind it, because the successor may not be the creator of the rumor.

To do these things, it is either for promotion or simply because of a grudge against someone.

Wei Guangde does not think that there is anyone in the court who is more suitable for this position than Tan Lun. After all, it is very difficult to rise to the top through military merit.

However, when the sedan chair arrived outside the imperial city, Wei Guangde vaguely had a direction.

The person may not be in the capital, and it is very likely that he is the governor of Xuanda or other places.

Tan Lun has not been in the capital for a long time, and he has not been heard of having a grudge with anyone on weekdays.

It is unlikely that someone would use this method to deal with him purely for revenge.

However, when Tan Lun succeeded as the governor of Ji Liao, someone raised an objection and wanted to transfer other border town governors to Ji Liao.

Did Zhang Juzheng take action?

Or did that person want to make trouble?

But in any case, Zhang Juzheng should have known about this in advance.

Although Wei Guangde was suspicious, it was difficult to investigate such things. He could only help Tan Lun clean up the official things. Wei Guangde also hoped that Tan Lun would take over the position of Minister of War in the future, just like Yang Bo's promotion route.

He regarded the position of Governor of Ji and Liao as a springboard for promotion to Minister of War, and Zhang Juzheng probably thought so too.

Wei Guangde just reminded himself to be careful and beware of Zhang Juzheng's tricks.

After entering the cabinet, Wei Guangde did not seek support immediately. After all, it was still in the early stage, that is, spreading rumors everywhere, and the Censorate had not moved.

Wei Guangde entered his duty room and began to think about this matter.

He also had to let the Censorate pay attention to see which censors Zhang Juzheng contacted to impeach, and then find an opportunity to get rid of these people.

The censors were not high-ranking officials, but they were really disgusting.

With this idea, Wei Guangde also began to think about whether he had a suitable candidate in his pocket who could take over Wang Ting's position when something happened.

Wei Guangde didn't want to give up the position of Zuodu Yushi and let others take it.

After the cabinet secretary distributed the memorials sent yesterday, Wei Guangde glanced at the catalog and didn't find any urgent official business that needed to be dealt with immediately, so he got up and went to Chen Yiqin's duty room.

He briefly explained the matter and asked Chen Yiqin whether he had arranged candidates for the Censorate.

After all, the current Wang Ting was planted by Chen Yiqin, so if Wei Guangde wanted to get involved, he still needed to say hello to Chen Yiqin in advance.

"You write a letter to Tan Lun to let him know about the rumors in the capital. If you need to report it, write a memorial and see what the palace's attitude is."

Chen Yiqin thought for a moment before giving his opinion on the rumors in the capital. "Seeing that His Majesty is going to recall Gao Gong, it is best to prevent some things in the bud. Try not to delay and deal with them quickly."

Chen Yiqin's opinion was the same as Wei Guangde's. Even if he didn't say this today, Wei Guangde was going to inform Tan Lun and let him know about these things. He should be more cautious in Jizhou.

Wei Guangde nodded to show that he knew.

"As for the Chief Censor, in addition to Wang Ting, I actually arranged a backup later. Zhao Zhenji, the Minister of Rites, is a clean official. If necessary, he can be transferred from the Ministry of Rites to the Censorate."

Hearing that Chen Yiqin had already chosen a candidate, Wei Guangde felt a little sorry and a little unwilling, but he didn't say much. His expression didn't change at all, and he still nodded.

After leaving Chen Yiqin's room, Wei Guangde went back to his room to handle government affairs, and some of his previous plans were in vain.

Originally, in Wei Guangde's plan, if Chen Yiqin did not arrange a backup for the Censorate, he would consider transferring Lao Kan from the Guangdong Provincial Censorate back to the capital and get him into the Censorate.

Wei Guangde's original arrangement for Lao Kan was to send him to the Fujian Provincial Administration. After all, the only thing Wei Guangde had accomplished now was to urge the court to open the sea, and Fujian, which had opened the sea, was naturally the place where Wei Guangde needed to focus on.

Wei Guangde always felt uneasy if he didn't arrange someone he trusted to govern there.

Shaking his head, Wei Guangde looked through the first official business to be handled today, the memorials for the relief of the local disasters in Northern Zhili and Shanxi, of course, this kind of disaster relief memorials must be approved.

As long as it is not asking the court for money or grain, the cabinet will almost never refuse.

Because the money left in the local area was actually out of the control of the Ministry of Revenue, no matter how tight the finances were, they could not transport the money back to the capital.

As for where the money was now, Wei Guangde was too lazy to think about it, it would only add to his troubles.

If the local area wanted to close the account, it would be closed, anyway, it had been divided up by others.

At noon, after dealing with the documents on the table, Wei Guangde wrote a letter and sent someone to Jizhen to give it to Tan Lun. He was still waiting for the instructions of the Grand Review Ceremony sent to the palace yesterday.