The rise of the poor

After reading Yan Shifan's letter, Wang Zhi casually put it into his pocket and put it away. He squinted at Luo Longwen, tapped the armrest of the tiger-skin chair lightly with his fingers, and slowly said, "Tell me, how does your master want to cooperate with us?"

Before Luo Longwen could even speak, the Japanese pirates below started chattering amongst themselves.

"Hehe, Your Majesty, how else can we cooperate? When the government cooperates with us, there are only two ways: open cooperation and covert cooperation. Open cooperation is nothing more than offering us amnesty? Covert cooperation is nothing more than letting us secretly work for them, and they secretly take care of us. We provide them with supplies, and they sit back and share the profits from our bloody battles."

"Hey Luo, how does your master want us to cooperate?"

A group of Japanese pirates surrounded Luo Longwen, staring intently at him, waiting for his answer.

"Well, my master wants you to pledge allegiance to us," Luo Longwen replied, shrinking back involuntarily as he was surrounded by so many fierce Japanese soldiers.

"Openly surrendering, or secretly?" Mao Haifeng pressed. They had already reached a preliminary agreement with Zhu Ping'an on amnesty. If Luo Longwen's master's cooperation was also based on amnesty, that would be even better. Having another influential person to offer amnesty would make the process smoother, and they would also reap greater benefits.

"Ahem." Luo Longwen coughed twice, cleared his throat, and then slowly said, "Well, first we'll secretly pledge allegiance without letting outsiders know. When the time is right, we'll openly offer him amnesty."

"What the hell? First, secretly pledge allegiance, then openly offer amnesty? What is your master up to?!"

"Surrounded by indirect methods, like taking off your pants to fart—your master doesn't seem like a good person!!!"

Upon hearing this, the group of Japanese pirates couldn't help but complain.

Wang Zhi glanced at Mao Haifeng, who understood immediately. He walked up to Luo Longwen and patted him hard on the shoulder. "Tell me, what does it mean to secretly pledge allegiance, and what does it mean to openly accept amnesty? Why does your master want us to secretly pledge allegiance first, and then openly accept amnesty?"

"This..." Luo Longwen was unwilling to say more.

"Cooperation is all about integrity. If you're this dishonest, we'll probably be betrayed once we start cooperating! Let's just forget it. Anyway, we don't only have your master as a partner. Do you know about the Governor of Zhejiang, Zhu Ping'an? We've already reached a preliminary agreement with him on the possibility of being granted amnesty."

Mao Haifeng used a combination of threats and coercion, and even brought up Zhu Pingan, saying that in business, you have to compare prices, and let them know that they are not the only ones doing business with us. Whoever offers the highest price, we will do business with.

"We can't cooperate with Zhu Ping'an!" Luo Longwen blurted out without thinking.

"Why can't we cooperate with Zhu Ping'an?!" Mao Haifeng asked Luo Longwen with burning eyes.

"Zhu Ping'an and my master have an irreconcilable feud. Back in the capital, Zhu Ping'an conspired with others to impeach my master! If my master hadn't been upright and had nothing to hide, Zhu Ping'an would have succeeded. Fortunately, His Majesty has discerning eyes and saw through Zhu Ping'an's conspiracy in one fell swoop, clearing my master's name. If you were to offer amnesty to Zhu Ping'an, wouldn't that be giving him a huge favor? No, no, absolutely not!"

Luo Longwen said emotionally.

"This is a bit tricky. We've already reached a preliminary agreement with Zhu Ping'an," Mao Haifeng said, narrowing his eyes.

Luo Longwen said without any hesitation, "It's just a preliminary intention, Your Majesty. Generals, people strive for higher positions, and water flows downhill. Compared to my master, Zhu Ping'an's status is far inferior. To put it bluntly, he's not even worthy of carrying my master's shoes. My master is a favorite of the Emperor, and officials who obey his orders are all over the Ming Dynasty. If Your Majesty wants to cooperate with court officials, no one is more suitable than my master, and only my master can offer the highest price. Zhu Ping'an is just a governor. What bargaining chips can he offer Your Majesty? What official position can Your Majesty get if he grants you amnesty?! With my master's help, giving Your Majesty a governorship is just a matter of a word."

After Luo Longwen finished speaking, Mao Haifeng narrowed his eyes slightly. Although he thought highly of Zhu Ping'an and admired him, why refuse a better option of amnesty? People strive for higher positions, and water flows downhill—that's the way of nature. Besides, they had only reached a preliminary agreement with Zhu Ping'an on amnesty; it was just a framework, not a real alliance! It didn't constitute a breach of contract!

Since both sides are surrendering to the imperial court, Zhu Ping'an should be able to understand.

"We'll decide who we cooperate with! You haven't said yet, what exactly constitutes a covert allegiance, and what exactly constitutes an open surrender? Why does your master want us to secretly allegiance first, and then openly surrender?" Mao Haifeng looked at Luo Longwen and urged, "Don't hide anything. Honesty is the most basic requirement for cooperating with us. If you can't even do that, don't even dream of cooperating with us."

Luo Longwen thought for a second, then nodded and slowly said, "Alright, you'll have to know this sooner or later. You secretly pledge allegiance to my master and follow his orders. You continue your pirate activities, continue burning, killing, and looting. No matter how much gold and silver you steal, it's all yours. My master won't take a single coin. My master will send someone to take over the position of Governor-General of Jiangnan. At that time, under the pretext of suppressing you, he will intervene in military power, place his own people, and gain control of a certain amount of military power to further consolidate his power. As for some officials who don't cooperate in secret, you can take care of them while you're burning, killing, and looting!"

Upon hearing this, Mao Haifeng smirked and commented, "Using the Japanese to bolster your own position, killing with a borrowed knife, deceiving your superiors and subordinates—your master is truly no good person."

“I think it’s great. We can continue to burn, kill, and loot. This is much better than surrendering to Zhu Ping’an. Zhu Ping’an doesn’t even allow us to burn, kill, and loot! Compared to that, their side is much more to my liking.”

"We're good at murder and arson. We can appease the court while continuing our burning, killing, and looting. We can do both without any problems."

"Although their master is not a good person, we are not good people either. We are birds of a feather."

Upon hearing this, the group of Japanese pirates chuckled. They thought cooperating with their master, Luo Longwen, was a good idea. They could continue burning, killing, and looting, which would bring in a lot of money. They could both be granted amnesty and continue their business of burning, killing, and looting. It sounded pretty good.

"Your master wants us to secretly defect and serve as your pawns. How long will we serve?" Mao Haifeng asked.

Luo Longwen stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and replied, "Well, my master didn't say anything specific, but he did mention it briefly. It will take at least five years. My master will send someone to take over the Governor-General of Jiangnan, then place people in the army, win over military officers, and use both kindness and force. None of this can be rushed." (End of Chapter)