Hu Zongxian had no time to answer, only staring venomously at the cannons behind Zhu Mo, mumbling, "How could they be so far? How could they be so fast...?"
Hu Zongxian walked over and touched and looked again, exhaling a long sigh, "Scholar Zhu, it's called the Iron Bodhisattva? Truly lives up to its name... How could the Franjian cannons shoot so far and so accurately? Scholar Zhu, can more of these cannons be made?"
Regarding this, Zhu Mo was actually unsure, only saying, "I think at most one hundred can be made per year. Once the molds, parts, and so on are standardized, over five hundred should be possible annually..."
Oh...
Hu Zongxian thought: With these cannons, and those firearms, this battle might not be lost after all... this young man's wonders are truly indescribable...
At this moment,
He suddenly remembered that he hadn't answered Zhu Mo's earlier question, and immediately came to his senses, saying:
"In my opinion, people's hearts are paramount. The Jiangnan army and people have always trusted the Qi Family Army the most. I will personally write a letter asking Qi Jiguang to return from Zhenhai quickly and reinforce Taizhou and Haimen two guards overnight. This way, people's hearts will be somewhat settled. Then, please have Scholar Zhu lead the musketeers and these captives on a parade through the prefectural cities. This might help to slightly reverse the decline..."
Mm-hmm.
Zhu Mo hadn't wanted to parade the captives, but Hu Zongxian's reasoning was sound.
Nowadays, the confidence of the Jiangnan army and people was fragile, and the Wokou had landed everywhere, ravaging and burning. People's hearts were in a precarious state, and without encouragement, they could collapse at any moment.
This time,
Zhu Mo had no choice but to bring the six hundred captives, traveling through prefectures and counties, but what he saw and heard was truly not optimistic. The common people all said that the Wokou had landed in large numbers and would soon capture Hangzhou.
This was not difficult to understand.
Because the problem of the Wokou was not something that could be explained in just a few words. The relationship between the Wokou and the people was not so black and white.
It should be known that the coastal areas had already been indirectly ruled by the Wokou for decades, and various industries were geared towards the maritime merchants dominated by the Wokou. The people had long been accustomed to the presence of the Wokou. Even during the more than ten years when Wang Zhi controlled the Wokou, Chinese smuggling was unprecedentedly busy, and the deep connections were already unbreakable. Therefore, Wang Zhi had thought of changing the Great Ming in this way, turning the profits of smuggling into national benefits.
However, while he himself might have had this idea, the court had clear divisions. Not to mention the Yan family and the purists, even the generals were clearly divided. Zhang Jing and Hu Zongxian favored peace, while Yu Dayou advocated suppression, which had been ongoing for more than a year or two. All signs also indicated that the Yan family was very displeased with Wang Zhi's intentions, hence forcing Hu Zongxian and Wang Bengu to lure and kill him.
As for Yu Dayou, he had previously led troops to destroy Shuangyu Island, causing significant losses to all those who profited from it. After that, Wang Zhi changed his attitude, declared himself emperor in Hirado, and gathered Wokou to continuously raid. The court once believed that Yu Dayou had caused the Wokou outbreak, and Yu Dayou was subsequently dismissed. However, when the Wokou landed and slaughtered residents, the court reinstated Yu Dayou again. This shows that not to mention the common people, even the court was constantly wavering.
The common people had mixed opinions about the Wokou and had little confidence in the Ming dynasty officials. Thus, those who shared in the profits of civilian trade or smuggling began to spread rumors, saying that the Wokou would soon occupy Hangzhou, and then Prince Hui Wang Zhi's son, Mao Lie, would enter the Great Ming.
Hu Zongxian had been aware of this for a long time, but Zhu Mo heard it for the first time. The two had a long discussion, but still couldn't reach a consensus.
At this time, they were already approaching Hangzhou.
Zhu Mo knew that Hu Zongxian favored peace, so he jokingly said, "Lord Governor, after so much talk, Zhang Taiyue and I want to set up a silk trading post in Jinshan Guard. Anyone, as long as they have proof, can buy and sell silk, regardless of where they transport it. What do you think?"
Haha,
Hu Zongxian shook his head and laughed,
"Scholar Zhu, how would those Wokou agree? They want the lowest price, and the court, for the sake of revenue, will definitely take a cut; moreover, Scholar Zhu has also implemented some employment methods, so how could the silk from the trading post be cheap? When the Wokou calculate it, they would rather use this money to hire more bandits and force the court to let them act with impunity, which would be more cost-effective!"
Zhu Mo couldn't help but sneer, and suddenly felt a peculiar sense of familiarity as he thought more and more about it—
This era of globalized maritime exploration had actually been underway for five hundred years, and it began with the current wave. He had heard all sorts of arguments until his ears were calloused...
To put it in a nutshell, people like Wang Zhi and Hu Zongxian still lacked understanding of the Wokou maritime merchants and never realized that this was the underlying logic that would completely change Chinese civilization. The people of this continent, for thousands of years, had never been prepared to accept such thorough animalistic laws. Even if they acted according to Wang Zhi's words, it would be absolutely impossible.
As for these people, after Zhu Mo had enacted a little legislation, he was accused of changing the rules of the sages. Then, when they used the Wokou maritime merchant model to completely change the Great Ming, would that not be considered forgetting their ancestors?
With their own thoughts, the two looked at each other and smiled.
Hu Zongxian suddenly said seriously:
"Scholar Zhu, I was deceived by Yan Song this time, and I have no other ambitions for the future... I think Scholar Zhu's reforms are very moderate. As long as I, Hu Zongxian, am still in the officialdom of the Great Ming, I will always support you."
Good!
Zhu Mo was overjoyed, deeply feeling that a good thing about the Ming dynasty's scholar-officials was that regardless of how different their views were, even opposite, their mutual trust could surpass their disagreements. Hu Zongxian was like this, Zhang Han was like this, Zhang Juzheng was like this, and even Xu Jie had this integrity.
This,
was truly the most awe-inspiring aspect of the Great Ming Dynasty.
...
Upon returning to Hangzhou,
When everyone met again, they all sighed that Hu Zongxian truly had divine protection. After the great calamity, all things had changed, and everyone felt a sense of melancholy. Tan Lun rushed over, looked him up and down several times, and finally shook his head and sighed, saying:
"Ruzhen, I advised you long ago to make up your mind and not listen to Yan Song's nonsense, but you wouldn't listen! You almost got yourself killed this time..."
Hu Zongxian smiled sheepishly, but had nothing to say.
Zhang Juzheng, who had always admired this person, paced a few steps and suddenly sighed, reciting: "Duke of Zhou feared the rumors of the day, Wang Mang was humble before usurping power. If he had died then, who would know his true nature throughout his life... Brother Ruzhen, the sage said that if one hears the Way in the morning, one can die in the evening. You have survived this ordeal, and it is not a bad thing to walk the straight path in the future."
Everyone thought of Yan Song's wickedness. Knowing that the Wokou reinforcements had arrived, he still wrote to trick Hu Zongxian, which deeply chilled them. Everyone in the world knew that Hu Zongxian regarded Yan Song as a mentor and friend, which was a widely told story. Yet, in the end, Yan Song could be so heartless?
Zhu Mo saw that the few scholar-officials had suddenly become solemn, and thought: They don't understand. Yan Song deeply understands the essence of this round of change. He clearly understands that this is an antagonistic contradiction. The foolish one is Hu Zongxian...
But these principles could not be revealed, so he immediately said with a smile, "Sirs, let's not be so emotional. The Wokou are still rampaging... What to do next is the pressing matter."
Everyone immediately offered their opinions, and the atmosphere was unprecedentedly friendly. Zhu Mo deeply felt that these Ming dynasty scholar-officials indeed had their bottom line, and such an atmosphere was truly rare. Perhaps the next time a disagreement arose, it would no longer be so.
Tan Lun was a Tamsashi in the Prince of Yu's mansion. He was originally fifth rank, but was promoted to Provincial Administration Commissioner last time, already second rank. Zhu Mo didn't have much impression of this person, only remembering that he later served as the Governor-General of Jiliao. Unexpectedly, listening to him discuss military matters at this time, he was indeed quite knowledgeable.
"Everyone, I believe that Yu Dayou has come north from Fujian and blocked the connection between the northern and southern Wokou in Taizhou and Wenzhou. Most of the Taizhou Wokou will likely flee north and set up naval camps outside the waters of Zhoushan... The Wokou on land, intimidated by Scholar Zhu's firearms, dare not attack for the time being. Currently, there are only small bands of pirates and mountain bandits causing trouble on land... Once Qi Jiguang returns to defend, they should be able to be wiped out one by one.
What I am worried about is how the Wokou will act at sea next. If they collude with the Chaoshan pirates again and launch a pincer attack from north and south, Yu Dayou's fleet will be in danger. This is the foundation of the Great Ming navy at present..."
Mm-hmm,
Everyone immediately became worried.
Zhang Han, who had long fought in Xuanda, said at this time:
"I think Yu Dayou should go south as soon as possible... According to the military reports, the Wokou had over two hundred warships this time, with nearly ten thousand men, which is truly unseen in decades. The situation is quite tricky, and we must not act rashly before we have properly planned..."