Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 100 Our Pirate King (Part 2)
Let’s go back to the beginning of March of this year.
"Your servant Tian Ergeng pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Oh! Captain Tian, you really want to kill me. Stop being so polite."
"Your Highness cares about me, and I am so excited!"
Those who can leave their names in history books are not stupid. When Zhu Youdong saw Tian Ergeng, he was happy from the bottom of his heart, and his excitement was beyond words. Seeing this true expression of emotion, Tian Ergeng felt extremely relieved, and suddenly felt that the life and death in the past year was worth it.
"Er Geng, on my way to Nanjing I was thinking about whether I should call you back from Fujian in advance. But I thought that you have only been in Fujian for a year, and maybe you have just figured out a lot of things. Calling you back at this time would make your hard work for more than a year go to waste, so I held back for the time being. Unexpectedly..."
"Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness. However, Your Highness, in February this year, I was not in Fujian, but in Japan."
"Japan?"
Speaking of which, one of the important reasons why Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun became so famous in later generations is that these two people really worked hard and sometimes they would fight to the extreme regardless of everything.
At this time, Haicheng County, which was under the jurisdiction of Zhangzhou Prefecture in Fujian, was the location of Yuegang, the only official customs of the Ming Dynasty established by Emperor Longqing when he opened the sea. Maritime trade was extremely prosperous. After being sent to Fujian by Zhu Youdong last year, Tian Ergeng of course went straight to Yuegang.
With the silver in his hands, his generous character, and his strong hands, he quickly became famous in Zhangzhou, Fujian. In less than a year, he formed an organization called "Haichang Society", which had gathered 300 to 500 men. He even had two ships of his own. So far, Zhu Youdong had completed more than half of the first task he had arranged: to be familiar with and understand the situation of maritime trade in the Ming Dynasty.
But there was still no clue about another mission: finding Li Dan, Yan Siqi and Zheng Zhilong.
In October last year, one of Tian Ergeng's subordinates came to report that he had heard that some smugglers from Japan mentioned Li Dan's name. Following this clue, Tian Ergeng found out that Li Dan was still in Japan!
Then Lao Tian slapped his thigh and said: Go out to sea, to Japan.
Since 1592 to 1598, China, Japan and South Korea fought a war on the Korean Peninsula. China and Japan have never signed a peace agreement, and official exchanges between the two countries have been completely cut off. The central government of the Ming Dynasty also clearly stipulated that although sea merchants going out to sea from Yuegang can freely trade in various places, they are not allowed to trade in Japan. Once discovered, they will be charged with collusion with Japan.
However, the sea is so big, how do you know where I will go after I leave the sea? Besides, the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty is full of leaks, and many things can be solved with a little money? In short, Tian Ergeng's team set out smoothly from Yuegang and arrived in Hirado, Japan in November 1606.
There was no need to ask around when they arrived in Hirado, because there were many Chinese in this area, and they all followed Li Dan. Before Tian Ergeng and his crew even reached the shore, Li Dan's men came to question them. Then, in front of his men's surprised eyes, Tian Ergeng revealed his identity as a Jinyiwei.
Although he met Li Dan very quickly, Li Dan was already a wealthy man at that time. For more than a month, Li Dan only treated Tian Ergeng with good wine and good food, but he was very worried about Tian Ergeng's suggestion to invite him to meet the crown prince.
On New Year's Day in 1607, Tian Ergeng was really unwilling to wait any longer, and said directly to Li Dan: Since Kapitan (the transliteration of Captain, Li Dan was called the Chinese Captain by the Portuguese) is unwilling to see the crown prince, then I can only go back and report to the crown prince.
At this point, Li Dan finally expressed his concerns: "Lord Tian, you and I have been together for more than a month. You are a straightforward man, and I will not beat around the bush with you. Although I, Li Dan, was baptized as a Catholic and have lived in Japan, I am Chinese at heart and I worship Mazu on the ship. Who among us Chinese doesn't want to make a name for ourselves and return home in glory? So, originally, when the Crown Prince saw the invitation, I should have gone to meet him in person. But when I think of what happened to the Wufeng ship owner, I am still a little scared."
Speaking of this, Tian Ergeng was speechless: In the past, when Hu Zongxian fought against the Japanese pirates in the southeast, the biggest pirate leader on the Chinese sea was Wang Zhi, who was known as the owner of Wufeng Ship. Hu Zongxian and his staff member Xu Wei meant that if they directly recruited Wang Zhi, the Japanese threat would be reduced by more than half.
After repeated negotiations, the leaders of all parties basically agreed to recruit Wang Zhi. Wang Zhi also believed Hu Zongxian and took his fleet ashore. As a result, Zhejiang Provincial Governor Wang Bengu arrested Wang Zhi without Hu Zongxian's knowledge and beheaded him directly.
It is not known whether Wang Xun's sense of justice was too strong and he felt that politics could not be compromised, or whether Wang Zhi's smuggling and piracy violated the smuggling interests of the scholars and officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and he took action for his own class. In short, after Wang Zhi's death, the pirates who lost their restraints set off a greater Japanese invasion, causing great losses to the southeastern coastal area.
In 1607, Li Dan already had a large business in Japan. The current shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, received financial support from Li Dan during his unification of Japan. Li Dan's fleet traveled between Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines, and other places. He was both a merchant and a pirate, and his wealth was unknown.
Although the Chinese people have an indelible attachment to their hometown, but asking them to listen to you, a captain of the Imperial Guard, and give up everything to follow you to Beijing (at that time, neither of them knew that Zhu Youdong was going south), do you really think Li Dan is a mentally retarded person?
Can a mentally retarded person build such a big industry?
Therefore, after listening to Li Dan's words, Tian Ergeng also sighed: "Since Kapitan has concerns, I will not force him. But Kapitan, I have been in Hirado for more than a month and have met a good brother. He is also someone that His Royal Highness wants to see. Can you let me take him away?"
"who?"
"A tailor from the Ming Dynasty, Yan Siqi."
"Haha, what the centurion said is not entirely true. Yan Siqi did work as a tailor, but he is also a bird of prey on this sea. Well, more than six years ago, the Tokugawa family sent people to spread the news that Susanoo appeared on the day their ninth son was born. At first, I didn't believe it, but later, what Takechiyo did was really amazing. As a citizen of the Great Ming, I am not without worries. But later I heard that when my Great Ming's grandson was born, there were also strange signs in the world, and he has done a lot of great things in recent years. I feel relieved. How about this, as long as Yan Siqi is willing to see the grandson, I will never stop him. In addition, to show my sincerity, Kunisuke?"
"Father?"
"You go with this Lord Tian."
"Yes, my son obeys your command!"
