Blackwater City is a small coastal county town. Because it is the closest county town to the Eastern Island Kingdom by sea, the Japanese pirates here are the most serious.

Before the Eastern Island Kingdom sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese pirates here were already very rampant.

After the Dongdao Kingdom sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty and suffered a setback, the Japanese pirates there became even more rampant.

Actually, many of these Japanese pirates were mountain bandits and pirates, but most of them had the support of the Eastern Island Nation.

Some people from the eastern island nations even went so far as to cause trouble along the coast of the Ming Dynasty under the guise of bandits and pirates.

Therefore, most of these Japanese pirates were indeed from the eastern island nation.

Upon arriving in Heishui City, Zhu Yunwen, as the grandson of the crown prince, directly took over the county government office.

He sat in the high seat in the county government hall, looking down at the magistrate with the black lines below, and asked:

"It's said that Japanese pirates are rampant along the coast outside Blackwater City. Give me a proper report on the specifics!"

The county magistrate below hurriedly spoke up:

"Your Majesty, I obey your command. Because Blackwater City is very close to the Eastern Island Kingdom in a straight line, the Japanese pirates here are becoming increasingly rampant. However, these Japanese pirates are also very cunning."

Although most of them were from the Eastern Island Kingdom, they claimed to be pirates or bandits from the Ming Dynasty to conceal their identities.

Previously, I sent several hundred soldiers by boat to a small island of a few dozen acres, about twenty miles out at sea, to wipe out a portion of the Japanese pirates.

But they only killed forty or fifty people. Of the few they captured, most spoke the language of the island nation, and only one was a true pirate.

Zhu Yunwen frowned:

"So, according to you, the island twenty or thirty miles offshore from the Blackwater City is a foothold for many Japanese pirates, right?"

The magistrate of Heishui City nodded and said:

"That's right. I'd conservatively estimate there are over a thousand Japanese pirates on this small island. But every time I lead troops to wipe them out, most of them manage to escape quickly. They're very cunning."