Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 50 The Governor Boasts About Pirates Getting Marquises (Part 1)

Zhu Jue was unaware that Fan Yongdou had already gone beyond the Great Wall, but he did know that the Jurchens would eventually march on the capital region.

These past few days he's been going to the East City almost every day, just wanting to get the East City defense system built as soon as possible.

As for those factories, he just wanted to get them built and put them into production as soon as possible, and get on the road to industrial development.

He still needs to go to the site every day to check things out and give Yuan You, Tian Hongyu, and the others proper guidance.

This is because none of these people have experience in developing industrial zones, which was his old profession in his previous life.

Around 7 a.m. that morning, he had just finished reviewing the memorials and was about to summon Lu Xiang-sheng and others to the East City when Fang Zheng-hua strode in, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Xiong Wen-can has arrived."

This guy finally arrived!
Logically speaking, this guy should have arrived long ago, so why is he only arriving now?

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then nodded slightly and said, "Yes, let him in."

Fang Zhenghua quickly clasped his hands in greeting, bowed, and hurried away.

A moment later, Xiong Wencan strode in, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

This guy also came from a military household in the garrison. He was quite strong, with a rather square face, thick eyebrows, and big eyes. He seemed to be an honest and kind person.

Something feels off.
Zhu Jue took a closer look and understood.

This guy has a very wide mouth.

There's a saying: "A tall tree is easily caught in the wind, and a big mouth is easily provoked."

As for why people with big mouths are prone to getting into trouble, it's because most people with big mouths love to brag!
The Ming Dynasty produced quite a few boastful governors, with Yuan Dudu being the most famous. That guy boasted that he would recover Liaodong in five years, but in less than two years, the Jurchens invaded the capital region!

Xiong Wencan seems to love to brag, and it seems he ended up ruining himself with his boasting!

He needs to be careful about this, because Emperor Chongzhen in history was greatly exaggerated by Yuan Chonghuan and Xiong Wencan.

He no longer intends to use Yuan Chonghuan.

However, he still had to use Xiong Wencan.

This is because boastful people can fool not only emperors, but also pirates.

This guy could definitely fool Zheng Zhilong; history has already proven that.

Everyone should make the best use of their talents; even a boastful person can be very useful if they can put their special skills to good use.

Zhu Jue thought for a moment before asking, "Why did you only arrive today?"

This is like the messenger going to the wrong place.

Xiong Wencan quickly explained, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. My family originally lived in Luzhou, Sichuan. However, my relative by marriage, Yao Gongming, invited me to move to Qishui, Huguang. So I moved there. Therefore, the imperial edict was sent to Sichuan first and then to Huguang. I set off immediately upon receiving the edict, but I am still late."

Oh, you moved.

This one sentence alone reveals that this person is truly a smooth talker, a smooth talker who can even explain being late for an audience with the emperor in a very logical and reasonable way, making people not want to argue with him after listening to him.

Yes, Not Bad.

I need you, you big talker, to fool Zheng Zhilong.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then said solemnly, "Are you aware that pirates in the southeast are becoming increasingly rampant, and the naval forces of Zhejiang and Fujian are powerless to resist them?"

As expected, it's in the Southeast!
Xiong Wencan thought for a moment, then carefully said, "Your Majesty, I have heard of this. In the second year of the Tianqi reign, I was sent as an envoy to Ryukyu. At that time, I first went to the Fujian Maritime Trade Office, and then summoned the naval fleet to set off for Ryukyu."

You were once an envoy to Ryukyu?

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue asked curiously, "What brings you to Ryukyu?"

Sure enough, emperors, having lived in the deep palace for so long, became curious about things overseas.

Using this as a starting point for boasting was indeed the right move. He does like to brag, but he doesn't enjoy talking nonsense. Boasters exaggerate to make others think they are capable and thus look at them differently, rather than talking nonsense and causing others to dislike them.

He was quite aware of this.

He did a lot of research before coming to meet the emperor.

Actually, he arrived around 5 PM yesterday, but he didn't rush to meet the emperor. Instead, he went directly to his father-in-law, Yao Gongming. He had resigned, but his father-in-law hadn't.

He first stayed at the residence of his father-in-law, Yao Gongming, and had a long talk with him by candlelight, gaining a thorough understanding of the current emperor's preferences and the current situation in the court.

This morning, he also made a special trip to visit several close friends in hopes of figuring out the current emperor's preferences.

He vaguely sensed that the current emperor disliked the Donglin Party and the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party, who were self-proclaimed gentlemen, but instead favored Wei Zhongxian, a capable but wicked man!
Furthermore, the current emperor only sees and values ​​those he has recruited, and he is one of those recruited by the current emperor.

He even knew exactly why the current emperor had summoned him, because people had already been sent to deal with the situation in the southwest, northwest, and Liaodong, but no one had been sent to the southeast.

He had also been to Southeast Asia.

He naturally wanted to make the best of such a good opportunity in order to gain the emperor's favor.

The idea of ​​"making a good impression" is just nonsense. Even if he knows that the current emperor dislikes the Donglin Party and the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party, he can't just start by saying that the Donglin Party and the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party are bad in this way and that way.

He needs to find a topic that interests the current emperor, and then use that as a starting point to boast to him.

This topic was indeed chosen correctly; the current emperor is indeed interested in the Ryukyu Kingdom overseas!

Xiong Wencan seized the opportunity to explain in detail: "Your Majesty, I am here on a mission to confer the title of King of Ryukyu."

At that time, King Shō Ning of Ryukyu died without an heir. Ryukyu requested that Shō Feng be appointed king. In the 37th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, King Shō Ning of Ryukyu had sent envoys seeking aid, stating that Japanese pirates from the Satsuma Domain had invaded Ryukyu, and Ryukyu was unable to resist. Afterwards, many of the tribute items sent by Ryukyu included products from the Japanese pirates. The Ministry of Rites suspected that Ryukyu had been controlled by the Japanese pirates and requested permission to send an envoy to Ryukyu to investigate the situation.

So, Ryukyu is now under the control of Japanese pirates?
Zhu Jue then pressed on, asking, "What is the current situation in Ryukyu?"

This could lead to the pirates and the Zhejiang-Fujian navy you just mentioned.

Xiong Wencan feigned a sigh and said, "I dare not hide anything from Your Majesty. It seems that Ryukyu has truly been taken over by Japanese pirates. Although I did not see any Japanese pirates in the Ryukyu royal palace, King Shangfeng of Ryukyu spoke timidly and kept glancing at others. Moreover, Japanese pirates can be seen everywhere in the capital of Ryukyu."

Your humble servant believes that when King Shang Ning sought help from the Ming Dynasty, the court did not send a navy to assist him, which led to Ryukyu being occupied by Japanese pirates. King Shang Ning died without fear, which is related to the Japanese pirates. King Shang Feng was probably a puppet of the Japanese pirates!
Furthermore, I have discovered that the naval forces of Zhejiang and Fujian also have problems.

The Zhejiang and Fujian naval forces have problems!
Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue's face turned solemn as he asked, "What problems do the Zhejiang and Fujian navies have, and how did you discover them?"

Great, now you can start bragging.

Xiong Wencan said in a serious tone: "Wherever I go, I pretend to be a heavy drinker and talk nonsense after drinking. In fact, I come from a wine country and have a decent alcohol tolerance. I just want to take the opportunity to get people drunk and find out what's going on."

At that time, I got Fujian officials and Zhejiang-Fujian naval commanders drunk several times, and I also took the opportunity to inquire about the situation of the Zhejiang-Fujian navy and the southeast coast.

Your humble servant has discovered that the Zhejiang and Fujian naval forces have been taken over by the wealthy merchant families of Zhejiang. Not only do they not suppress pirates and Japanese pirates, they also help them purchase and deliver goods.

When those people were drunk, they talked most about Xu Xinsu, the adjutant of the Zhejiang and Fujian naval forces. Xu was a maritime merchant by origin and a sworn brother of the pirate and Japanese pirate leader, Kapitan. He also wielded considerable influence in the southeastern officialdom, and was responsible for procuring and transporting goods for wealthy maritime families.

Xu Xinsu, a naval officer of the Zhejiang and Fujian navies, was an agent for a powerful maritime merchant family from Zhejiang!

Zhu Jue thought for a moment and then asked, "Who is Jiabidan?"

Fortunately, I did my homework this morning.

Xiong Wencan explained in detail: "The Kapitan was originally the largest maritime merchant in Southeast Asia. His business covered Japan and Southeast Asia, and Western countries also imported goods from him."

However, I have heard that Kapitan died in the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, and his forces split into several groups, the largest of which was the pirate fleet controlled by his adopted son, Zheng Zhilong.

Zheng Zhilong seemed unwilling to be controlled by the powerful Zhejiang merchant families. Therefore, Xu Xinsu repeatedly mobilized the Zhejiang and Fujian naval fleets to besiege Zheng Zhilong's pirate fleet, and it's said that they were all defeated by Zheng Zhilong.

That's it!

The Zhejiang faction wanted to use the imperial court to deal with the disobedient Zheng Zhilong!
(End of this chapter)