My aunt is Queen Ma

Chapter 124 A Tremendous Achievement
Guangzhou City.

Mao Xiang sat by the window on the third floor of the restaurant, staring at the pedestrians outside with a gloomy expression.

The Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) is not fully staffed at present. Although it is nominally the size of a guard post, it is actually severely short of personnel.

Especially at the higher levels, the plan should include one commander, five thousand-household commanders, and ten hundred-household commanders.

But in reality there was only one commander, two commanders of thousands, and eight commanders of hundreds.

Zhu Yuanzhang personally commanded half of the manpower, mainly to monitor officials and collect external intelligence.

But the commander and the two commanders stayed by his side.

After all, the commander was personally responsible to the emperor, and the two commanders were responsible for surveillance and intelligence gathering.

The other half of the manpower was commanded by Zhu Shuang, and he was responsible for only four centurions, whose main task was to investigate financial and tax cases.

Mao Xiang was one of the centurions.

Previously, thanks to her charming and shrewd personality, she was highly valued by Zhu Shuang.

However, when Ma Yu went on a hunger strike, he took the wrong path, and all his previous efforts were in vain.

Although Zhu Shuang did not kick him out, he was subsequently marginalized.

The other three centurions naturally wouldn't let this opportunity to kick someone when they're down slip by, and they secretly did a lot of sabotage.

In this investigation of the Huangcheng Building Materials case, everyone knows that it's easier to gain merit by going to Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

After all, it was a traditionally prosperous place with many powerful families.

The key point is that it's Zhang Shicheng's stronghold, which the emperor is paying close attention to. Even a small achievement there can be very valuable.

He was forced to come to Guangzhou by the combined efforts of the other three.

Although this place is not poor, it is, after all, the Lingnan region, which is far less prosperous than Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and it is also far from the capital.

It was a tough and tiring experience, and it was difficult to achieve any results.

So you can imagine how bad his mood was.

But no matter how bad your mood is, you still have to do what you're supposed to do.

After all, even a small contribution is better than no contribution at all.

After going through the list again and again, he decided to focus his attention on the Wan family.

This investigation revealed something significant: the Wan family had been acting strangely lately, seemingly plotting something.

His professional instincts told him that the Wan family had most likely realized something was wrong in Fengyang and wanted to flee with their entire family.

No, we have to figure out their plan.

So he sent someone to inform Geng Tianbi, the commander of the Guangzhou Navy, to take precautions.

Meanwhile, they secretly arrested Wan Tong, the Wan family's steward, in an attempt to extract all of the Wan family's plans from him.

Whether or not one knows about the Wan family's plan, it doesn't affect the overall situation.

But getting a detailed plan is still a merit, even if it's just a small thing.

Wantong was a servant born into the Wan family, meaning his ancestors had served the Wan family for generations, and his surname was bestowed upon him by the Wan family.

Such people are deeply bound to their master's family and are almost never capable of betraying them.

But this also means that he can get involved in the most confidential affairs of the Wan family, and what if he uncovers something during the investigation?

Just as Mao Xiang was pondering how to get Wantong to talk, something unexpected happened.

Wan Tong, who was tied to the wooden frame, looked at them and suddenly said:

"You're from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, right?"

Mao Xiang was quite surprised, considering they were all dressed in civilian clothes:
"No wonder he became the Wan family's steward; he is indeed a smart man."

"Since you're a smart person, just confess, so you can avoid physical suffering."

Wan Tong smiled and said, "I want to see your leader, the one who can make decisions."

Mao Xiang raised an eyebrow: "What are you doing seeing our leader?"

Wan Tong did not answer, but said only, "I will not say a word until someone in charge of you comes."

Mao Xiang threatened, "You're about to die and you're still being stubborn. I'd like to see if your mouth is tougher than my torture instruments."

Wan Tong remained unfazed and said, "I don't know what you're plotting, but if I don't show up by tomorrow morning, the master will know something's wrong."

"At that time, all your plans will fail."

"That means you only have three hours now."

"By the way, if I have any injuries, the master will also suspect that something is wrong."

Mao Xiang was genuinely surprised. This Steward Wan was unpredictable in every way, making it difficult to understand what he was thinking.

However, since the person had already been captured, there was nothing left to hide, so he simply revealed his identity:
"I am Mao Xiang, a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the very person you said could make decisions. I wonder what advice Steward Wan may have for me?"

Wan Tong looked him up and down, then nodded and said, "I've heard of Commander Mao's name. He's a capable general under the King of Qin."

Mao Xiang unconsciously puffed out his chest, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly: "Since you know who I am, then stop beating around the bush."

"Speak, what brings you to see me?"

Wan Tong said, "I can tell you all the secrets I know and help you do a great service."

Upon hearing this, Mao Xiang's heart suddenly raced. Wantong was the person Wan Baoquan trusted most, and if he was willing to cooperate with him...

There are just too many things that can be done.

In that instant, he seemed to see an immense achievement about to befall him.

But he knew things were definitely not that simple.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he asked, "What are your requirements?"

Vanton said, "I will protect my family and grant them good citizenship."

Mao Xiang immediately understood what was going on. Although Wantong was a servant of the Wan family, he still held a certain status.

With the support of the Wan family, he also amassed a considerable fortune, with four wives and concubines and more than ten children and grandchildren.

He knew all too well what the Wan family had done and understood that this great ship was about to sink.

In critical moments, choose to protect your own family.

This choice isn't entirely incomprehensible, but it's certainly quite despicable.

However, Mao Xiang did not reveal this emotion, but instead smiled and said:

"Butler Wan is indeed a clever man. The Wan family are wanted criminals. Your actions are a sign of turning away from darkness and embracing the light, and are an act of loyalty and righteousness."

"As long as you cooperate with my actions, I will protect the lives of your entire family."

Wan Tong nodded and said, "Alright, then thank you in advance, Commander Mao."

He then revealed everything about the Wan family, including their plan to collude with Japanese pirates and Zhang Shicheng's remnants to loot Guangzhou.

"Now the Japanese pirates and Sun Yunzhong are converging here."

Sun Yunzhong was the leader of Zhang Shicheng's remnants.

Mao Xiang was overjoyed upon hearing this, for it was truly a tremendous achievement. However, he still cautiously said:
"Do you really trust him so much, considering he's a Japanese pirate and a remnant of Zhang Shicheng?"

Wan Tong said, "Back then, the old patriarch collaborated with Japanese pirates on many occasions to plunder other maritime merchants."

"They even guided Japanese pirates ashore to plunder and sold the stolen goods for them."

"It was precisely through the cooperation of the Japanese pirates that they became the leading maritime merchants in Guangzhou in a short period of time."

“When Zhang Shicheng was defeated, some of his men fled to the sea, and the old patriarch also provided them with support.”

"Therefore, they trust Wan Jia very much."

"This time, the head of the family sensed the danger and sent a message over there, saying that there was a big deal."

"The Japanese pirates and Sun Yunbao had no doubts and were leading their main force toward the sea off Guangzhou."

Mao Xiang angrily said, "How dare they collude with Japanese pirates and traitors! They deserve to die!"

But I was very happy inside. Great! This is truly a great achievement.

The biggest problem for the Ming army in fighting Japanese pirates and the remnants of Zhang Shicheng was their unfamiliarity with the offshore environment, which made it impossible for them to capture their opponents.

If they are indeed led into Guangzhou Bay, the navy can block the gate from the outside and trap them like turtles in a jar.

With this merit, one could easily become a commander, let alone a chiliarch.

He might even be able to snag a hereditary commandership.

He was quite envious of the imperial court's bestowal of titles upon meritorious officials, and now that he had a chance to compete for them himself, how could he remain calm?

With that thought in mind, he immediately made a decision.

Bet on it.

As for the risks involved, and whether Vantone's surrender was a ruse, he no longer considered them at all.

As the saying goes, wealth is found in danger.

How can you accomplish great things if you're afraid of everything?

So he immediately finalized the details and contact information with Wantong, and then put it back.

Some of his subordinates questioned, "What if he's feigning surrender?"
Mao Xiang immediately stated that he would take responsibility for anything that happened.

Since he had already said that, the others naturally couldn't say anything more and could only do as he said.

However, this matter is of great importance and cannot be decided by a mere centurion.

Write to Zhu Shuang immediately to seek his opinion.

Just then, Zhu Shuang also sent a letter, asking him to try to bribe some informants.

Bribing an informant?

Although the letter did not state the reason, Mao Xiang could guess what it was.

It's highly likely they're trying to fish.

Isn't this a coincidence?

This credit should rightfully belong to me.

The thought of those three colleagues who ostracized him filled him with immense pride.

Thank you so much.

If it weren't for you all, how could I have gotten this credit?

When I become a commander in the future, I will definitely repay you all.
-
Mao Xiang's letter was sent to Yingtian by the fastest courier. Zhu Shuang received the letter at midnight, and without delay, he immediately went to the capital.

The guards were instructed to hoist him up in a bamboo basket.

Then they arrived at the Qianqing Palace, startling Zhu Yuanzhang, who was embracing his concubine.

One can imagine how terrible Zhu Yuanzhang's face must have looked when he came out of his palace.

Making such a fuss in the middle of the night, if things don't get serious enough, we'll see how we deal with you.

However, when he saw Mao Xiang's secret letter, he immediately put all these matters out of his mind.

He then immediately wrote a handwritten order to Wu Zhen and the Guangzhou Provincial Governor, instructing them to fully cooperate with Mao Xiang's actions.

We must eliminate the main force of the Japanese pirates and the remnants of Zhang Shicheng.

The imperial edict was also sent out by the Imperial Guards overnight and delivered to the two men as quickly as possible.

After finishing all this, Zhu Yuanzhang praised, "Second son, you did a good job this time."

"If we can really eliminate the Japanese pirates and Zhang Shicheng's remnants, it will relieve us of a great worry."

Zhu Shuang replied, "You're getting excited about this too soon."

"Zhang Shicheng's remnants are easy to deal with, but the Japanese pirates are not as simple as you think."

Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze sharpened, and he said, "Did Ma Yu say something to you again?"

Zhu Shuang nodded and said, "Old Ma said that Japan's system is similar to the enfeoffment system of the pre-Qin period and the Nine-Rank System of the Wei and Jin Dynasties."

"Identities are almost all hereditary."

"This has resulted in a large number of talented individuals at the grassroots level having nowhere to showcase their abilities."

"Moreover, the Japanese imperial family is a puppet; the real power lies with the shogunate."

"They seem to be currently mired in a North-South divide, with the two sides fighting for decades."

"This has further destabilized the country and led to more people losing their jobs."

"As a result, impoverished nobles and samurai in Japan, as well as unemployed merchants, farmers, and others, were forced to take risks and go to sea to make a living."

"This is the origin of the Japanese pirates."

"Unless the Ming Dynasty addresses the root cause of the problem, it will never be able to completely eliminate the Japanese pirates."

“Kill one batch, and a new batch will appear in a few years.”

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned; it was the first time he had learned the reason for the emergence of the Japanese pirates.

In fact, he sent world delegations to Japan three times.

A group was dispatched in the first year of the Hongwu reign, and then they disappeared without a trace (historical records state that they were intercepted and killed by Japanese pirates).

Another group was sent in the second year of the Hongwu reign, but there was still no news (they were stranded in Japan due to transportation difficulties and later returned).

In the third year of Hongwu's reign, which was at the beginning of this year, Zhao Zhi, the prefect of Laizhou, was sent on a mission (he stayed there and later returned).

Zhao Zhi was a descendant of the great calligrapher Zhao Mengfu and a descendant of the Song Dynasty.

However, he has not sent any news back so far.

It can be said that the Ming Dynasty at present has almost no understanding of Japan.

If Zhu Shuang hadn't spoken about it today, he wouldn't have known how the Japanese pirates came to be.

But... just as Zhu Shuang just said.

Even if we knew, there weren't many good solutions.

If Japan were a unified country, it would be possible to negotiate with them to make them control their people.

In fact, he sent envoys to Japan for this very purpose.

However, the other side is currently mired in a north-south divide and is too preoccupied with its own problems to control the people.

Thinking about this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Although reluctant, I still had to ask:

Did Ma Yu ever say how to break the deadlock?

Zhu Shuang shook his head and said, "I didn't ask."

Zhu Yuanzhang's face darkened and he almost cursed, "Such a big matter, and you didn't even ask about it?"
How did he become a prince?

"Go back and ask him if there's any way to help."

Zhu Shuang yawned and said, "Okay, I'll ask him another day."

"Is there anything else? If not, I'll head back."

Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth, then said helplessly:
"get out."

Zhu Shuang pursed his lips, casually cupped his hands in greeting, and left.

Disturbed like this, Zhu Yuanzhang lost interest.

Ignoring the resentful gaze of the concubine, he put on his clothes and reviewed memorials for another hour before lying down to rest.

Ma Yu only learned what had happened the next day. Regarding how to manage Japan, he simply said:

"The first priority is to build a powerful ocean-going navy."

"Only in this way can we pose a real threat to Japan, and only then can the Ming Dynasty interfere in their internal affairs."

Zhu Shuang said, "The imperial court has already ordered people to supervise the training of the navy, and I believe there will be results soon."

Ma Yu shook his head and said, "The Ming Dynasty's current naval warships have too shallow a draft, so they can only operate near the coast and cannot venture into the open sea."

"This inevitably limits their range of activities, which is one of the main reasons why we have been unable to deal with the Japanese pirates so far."

The current Ming Dynasty navy was expanded from the Chaohu navy, and its warships were converted from flat-bottomed inland river boats.

This type of vessel is suitable for inland waterways where the wind and waves are relatively calm.

They will suffer from acclimatization problems at sea and can only stay near the coast.

This weakness was particularly evident when fighting against the Japanese pirates.

We finally caught the Japanese pirates by the skin of their teeth, but they had already sailed off to the deep sea in their warships.

You're caught in a dilemma: whether you pursue it or not.

Historically, Geng Tianbi was killed in action after pursuing the enemy too far into the open sea and falling into the water due to the rough seas.

Geng Tianbi was the son of Geng Zaixing, the Duke of Si. He was brave and skilled in battle and was considered one of the best among the younger generation in the Ming Dynasty.

Yet he died such a miserable death.

This was the current state of the Ming Dynasty navy.

Without changing this, we will never be able to access the open sea.

After listening to his analysis, Zhu Shuang scratched his head: "I didn't expect the navy to be so complicated. Do you know anything about shipbuilding?"

Ma Yu said, "I only know some principles and the general shape of a ship, but I know nothing about its internal structure."

Zhu Shuang quickly replied, "Knowing the shape and principle is enough; let them study the internal structure."

As he spoke, he found a pen and ink.

Ma Yu drew the shape of the pointed-bottom boat and the U-shaped bottom, and wrote down the basic principles.

Pointed-bottom boats are more commonly used in the West. Their advantage is that they have a deep draft, but their disadvantage is that they are slow.

The U-shaped bottom was a common design feature of Chinese warships in the past, balancing draft and speed.

But in the previous life, those were steel warships, which were definitely different from wooden ships.

He didn't know if the U-shaped bottom would fit on a wooden boat.

So they simply wrote down both ship types and let the craftsmen study them themselves.

Upon receiving these materials, Zhu Shuang was naturally very pleased, and then asked:
"Besides building a navy, what else is there?"

Ma Yu said, "The second is to gather information and win people's hearts."

"The Japanese are particularly devout Buddhists, so we can send monks to carry out this mission."

"Then it's about doing business, importing large quantities of goods, and controlling their economy."

"Aren't they currently engaged in a civil war? The Ming Dynasty will support the weak and resist the strong, letting them bleed to their last drop in the civil war."

"If we manage things this way for several decades, the Ming Dynasty can take over Japan without lifting a finger."

Zhu Shuang praised, "Tsk, Old Ma, you're really cunning, but I like it."

Ma Yu rolled her eyes and added another sentence:
"Given your father's personality, he probably wouldn't support doing this."

"Just tell him that there are several open-pit gold and silver mines on the Japanese islands, with huge reserves."

"They can mine millions of taels of gold and silver every year, and they can continue to mine for hundreds of years."

Japan is not actually a country with abundant gold and silver reserves, but most of its mineral deposits are concentrated in a few mines.

And it's an open-pit mine, making it very easy to extract.

This creates the misconception that Japan is rich in gold and silver.

But whether it was an illusion or not, those gold and silver mines were indeed a huge fortune.

Given Zhu Yuanzhang's personality, once this news is confirmed, he will be more envious than anyone else.

Indeed, just as Ma Yu had predicted, when Zhu Shuang entered the palace and told him all of this...

Initially, he was not interested in managing Japan.

It's too far, and the risk is too great.

However, he was more supportive of the suggestion to send monks to gather intelligence.

After all, this is essentially costless, and even if it fails, there's not much loss.

However, his attitude changed immediately when he heard about the gold and silver mines.

Do you know where the gold and silver mines are located?

Zhu Shuang shook his head and said, "I don't know, but he said that the mine is buried very shallowly, and it would be easy to find if we sent someone to look for it."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with some helplessness, "Alright, let's send someone to investigate."

"But there's no rush. Let's send people to build the two types of ships he mentioned first."
-
Just as Zhu Yuanzhang was worrying about eradicating the threat of Japanese pirates, Guangzhou was about to face a major battle.

(End of this chapter)