"What a great saying: 'It is easy to get rid of foreign thieves, but it is difficult to get rid of Chinese thieves. It is easy to get rid of Chinese thieves, but it is difficult to get rid of Chinese thieves in good clothes.'"
Zhu Wan was silent for a moment and muttered to himself.
Although Zhu Wan was extremely reluctant to believe it, judging from the current situation and Xu Yan's analysis, it was very likely that it was these big sea merchants from Fujian and Zhejiang who instigated discord and persuaded the Japanese envoy to assassinate the Japanese envoy.
Zhu Wan felt as if her heart was being stabbed by countless needles, causing her unbearable pain.
In order to stabilize the coastal defense, the soldiers fought bloody battles against the Japanese pirates on the front line, but these Fujian and Zhejiang merchants stabbed them in the back.
It's really heartbreaking!
"According to the current situation, what should I do now?"
At this moment, Zhu Wan felt very confused and couldn't find her direction for a while.
"In my humble opinion, you should simmer it slowly."
Xu Yan said without hesitation.
These Fujian and Zhejiang merchants certainly deserve to die, but it will take more than a day or two to completely eradicate this stubborn disease.
Zhu Wan was too impatient, which led to strong resistance from the Fujian and Zhejiang maritime merchant interest groups.
"I wonder if you've ever heard of the saying 'boiling a frog in warm water,'"
Xu Yan continued.
Zhu Wan shook his head.
"If you drop a frog directly into a pot of boiling water, it will most likely jump out. But if you put it in a pot of cold water and then slowly heat it up, it won't notice the change. As the water gets hotter, the change becomes more and more noticeable. By the time it realizes something's wrong, it's too late to jump out."
Xu Yan's words were very vivid, how could Zhu Wan not understand?
"Yishi is saying that these Fujian and Zhejiang merchants are the frogs in the pot? Should I heat it slowly over a low fire?"
"Yes!"
Xu Yan nodded.
He always believed that Zhu Wan's problem was not in her ability, but in her character.
There is hope.
"One word from you is worth ten years of reading."
Zhu Wan sighed with regret.
Xu Yan quickly said, "Your Excellency, you are too kind. I was just speaking casually..."
"When three people walk together, there must be one who can be my teacher. It is not unacceptable for me to have opinions that are superior to mine."
Zhu Wan smiled and said, "Your words have completely enlightened me."
"Then according to your opinion, what should I do next?"
Xu Yan pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Ultimately, this matter depends on Your Majesty's attitude. I'm going to say something I shouldn't say. If Your Majesty is determined to thoroughly rectify the Southeast, then these maritime merchants are nothing but paper tigers. If Your Majesty changes his mind, then even the Minister's best efforts will be in vain."
Zhu Wan knew this truth very well.
"I have already submitted a memorial to the Emperor regarding the Japanese envoy's arrival in Ning. I estimate that it won't be long before His Majesty issues an edict."
In fact, Zhu Wan herself was not sure what Emperor Jiajing was thinking.
The mind of this Ming emperor is the most unfathomable.
"In that case, Lord Minister, all you need to do now is wait. As for the assassination, we can investigate further, but it's best to do it in secret."
Xu Yan felt that if there was one, there would be two, and if there were two, there would be three.
This time, the Fujian and Zhejiang merchants failed in their attempt to kill someone with a borrowed knife, and they will definitely not let it go. They may strike again in a while.
"During this period, the Minister should be careful and avoid being taken advantage of by treacherous people."
"Don't worry, I won't fall until these treacherous villains are eradicated."
Zhu Wan smiled and said, "If they want to fight me, I will fight them to the end."
Xu Yan finally felt relieved after hearing this. As long as Zhu Wan's strategy changed, he would be confident that this famous anti-Japanese general would continue to sit in the position of Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang.
...
...
"What? The assassination failed?"
Liu Jingqi, the head of the Liu family, was greatly disappointed when he heard the news.
This damn Zhu Wan ordered the port to be blocked after he captured Shuangyu.
The Liu family has been doing business at sea for many years, mainly dealing in raw silk, silk and other cotton textiles.
These things were very popular in Japan, so the Liu family cooperated with pirates such as Xu Dong to sell the goods to Japan and make huge profits.
You can earn several times more interest on a round trip.
Their transactions were all conducted in Shuangyu Port. Now that Shuangyu Port was destroyed, the connection between the Liu family and Xu Dong was also cut off.
At least in the short term, it is impossible to go out to sea again. The losses during this period are difficult to estimate.
"Old bastard, I will kill you sooner or later!"
...
...
Xu Yan returned home and thought about how he could help Zhu Wan.
Just as he told Zhu Wan, the root of this matter lies with Emperor Jiajing.
Emperor Jiajing's attitude directly determined the support Zhu Wan received.
Judging from historical records, Emperor Jiajing really wanted to strengthen coastal defense and quell the Japanese invasion.
But the effect was not good at the beginning. Xu Yan thought it was because Emperor Jiajing did not recognize the nature of the Japanese invasion and thought it was just Japanese ronin plundering the coast.
Therefore, the most urgent task is to let Emperor Jiajing know the truth about the Japanese invasion in Fujian and Zhejiang.
Emperor Jiajing was a man who was conceited about his intelligence and did not necessarily believe all the memorials submitted by his ministers.
Therefore, it was impossible to rely on Zhu Wan to "wake up" Emperor Jiajing.
The Ming emperor liked the results he deduced the most and believed that they were the most credible.
So Xu Yan decided to cater to his interests and write a story for him to savor slowly.
Now that he had made up his mind, Xu Yan picked up his pen, dipped it in ink, and began to write quickly.
"As the boat sailed, the sun gradually emerged from the sea. All I could see was the silver waves rolling like snow, the snow waves turning silver. The turbulence made the sun and moon seem startled, and the waves stirred the Milky Way.
In three or five days, I drifted away with the wind and didn't realize how far I had traveled.
Suddenly we arrived at a place. Looking from the boat, we saw dense population and towering city walls. We knew we had arrived at the capital of some country.
The boatman pushed the boat into a small harbor sheltered from the wind and waves, drove stakes, dropped anchor, and tied the rope.
Many people on the boat went ashore. After checking, they found that it was a place they had been to before, called Jiling Country.
If you bring Chinese goods here, they will be worth three times as much. If you exchange them for goods there, the same thing will happen when you bring them to China.
It is inconvenient to earn eight or nine times the interest for a round trip, so people are willing to take this route at all costs.
Most of them had experience in business, and each had acquaintances with brokers, agents, interpreters, etc., and they all went ashore to find shipments.
Although it is only a short paragraph, it vividly describes the benefits of smuggling to Japan, and also indirectly shows that the Japanese pirates are not only real Japanese, but also fake Japanese. These fake Japanese are armed forces supported by Fujian and Zhejiang merchants, and at the very least, they have a cooperative relationship.
After Xu Yan finished writing a chapter, he wrote a poem at the end.
The poem says:
The Japanese troops were silent, marching in all directions.
The sound of conch shells makes butterflies fly, and fishes run in a line like long snakes.
The fan scatters without a trace, the knife comes and leaves a flower.
What’s more, the true and the false are mixed together, bringing disaster to China.
Naturally, he intended to publish this novel, but he would not use the name of Xu Family Bookstore, and even the paper and ink used would be deliberately different from those of Xu's.
To put it bluntly, he did not intend to sell this novel, but to gain public support for Zhu Wan.
...
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