My God, I am the emperor, the lord of mankind.

Chapter 435 Pirates

"The master doesn't know something."

Yi Sunchen wiped his mouth with his cuffs. Zhu Houcong looked at the cuffs that were full of oil stains and patches, and highly suspected that this was some kind of alternative way for the North Korean fisherman to reserve nutrients and cope with unexpected events.

"These pirates have been galloping on the sea all year round. Even if the imperial army has many soldiers, strong ships and powerful guns, if these pirates insist on avoiding fighting, the sea area is vast, and the relationship between these pirates and many maritime forces is intricate, and they can escape into the deep sea archipelago. Even if the imperial court has an army of millions, where will they find it?"

"Take the recent rise of the pirate Wang Heng. He has thousands of Japanese soldiers under his command. They are top-notch elite soldiers. He has trade relations with many famous names in the offshore Japan. After he refused the Ming Dynasty's surrender last time, in order to avoid The pursuing army led the ships eastward and hid under the cover of the Japanese daimyo. The imperial fleet searched for them for three months, and in the end they could only attack some small-scale pirates and savage chiefs who had little information along the way and then return to the court."

Zhu Houcong was thoughtful when he heard the words of the North Korean fishermen in front of him.

It seems that although the Ministry of Rites gathered a large amount of funds through maritime trade, it began to build a large number of ships.

But the foundation is still shallow.

The power of the radiation range to the various health centers around Mingting is acceptable, but if it reaches the range that Mingting can directly control.

Then you will immediately face the dilemma of having no soldiers available.

"Is Wang Heng very powerful?"

Zhu Houcong asked curiously after hearing Li Shunmin's words.

"Of course, among the hundreds of different pirate forces, large and small, in the Eastern Sea, this army of rogues under Wang Heng can be ranked among the top ten."

Looking at the fisherman in front of him who was talking about this pirate ranking.

Zhu Houcong asked curiously.

Next to me, Zhang Fawei saw the sea for the first time and was also very interested in these strange things in the waves.

He also listened with his ears perked up.

"It is said that this man was originally a merchant from the southeast, but he failed many times, so he went to sea in anger to try to find a way out... Relying on his domestic connections, he successfully recruited an army of thousands of ronin in Tsushima, Jeju and other places. Masanori For more than ten years, I helped Ming Dynasty Southeast Hao attack Ming Dynasty coastal defense officers and soldiers, smuggled silk, tea, firearms and other items, and sold them to Frankie and Dongyi, making huge profits..."

The reason why most of the leaders of the pirates in this period were Ming Dynasty and why most of the main forces of their armies were Jurchens and Japanese pirates is basically the same.

Ming Dynasty was the largest trade exporter during this period, and the majority of export trade was illegal smuggling trade.

The trade that the government can control is just a drop in the bucket compared to the wealthy merchants in the southeast.

The Jurchens and Japan have been engaged in brutal civil wars all year round, and production has been stagnant due to the war.

It cannot feed that large population.

Therefore, a large number of young and middle-aged samurai had to leave their hometowns for various reasons to find another way out.

At this time, Wang Heng appeared.

Pirates are not as romantic as they appear in the story.

Even the main income of pirates is not from robbing the services of wealthy merchants and princes in the past.

On the contrary, the main income of most pirates comes from commissions from coastal smuggling groups. The merchant groups in Zhejiang and Guangxi during the Ming Dynasty are their main suppliers.

In other words, these pirate leaders were simply businessmen from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty. However, due to various reasons, either because of the harsh laws and regulations of the Ming Dynasty or because of the exploitation of officials, they could not continue their business, so they took a group of brothers to start a business in the sea.

The princes in Japan, Korea and other places are usually just like the princes in the Ming Dynasty, and they must not be offended.

They are the biggest patrons of pirates, and most of the contraband is obtained through indirect means such as piracy.

For example-since the time of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming court has strictly controlled firearms.

It would have to wait until thirty years later for the firearms of the Franji people to be introduced to Japan. A certain Ming pirate who named himself "Confucian Wufeng" obtained Japan's first two firearms from the Portuguese for the shaman family in the south. Iron cannon. Finally, at the expense of sacrificing his young daughter, Tiepao Sennin Baban Qingding finally developed the art of making iron cannons.

But as early as Kublai Khan's Eastern Expedition, or even earlier, Japanese islanders had already seen the power of Central Plains firearms, and began to gradually and consciously apply them in war.

However, due to the fact that the Ming Dynasty firearms technology under Zhu Houcong did not rely on archaeology as it did in history.

Weapons become more reliable the further they go.

If only one of the twenty muskets could fire normally like in history, Qi Jiguang would be shocked for a hundred years.

Zhu Houcong should consider asking the Jinyi Guards to have an in-depth exchange with the commanders of various military towns in the Ming Dynasty in the prison.

The kind that takes heart and soul.

Zhu Houcong listened quietly and asked questions from time to time.

Li Shunmin, on the other hand, showed the talkativeness of a fisherman. This old fisherman, who was strong and proficient in multiple languages, showed in his conversation that his breadth of knowledge was unparalleled by farmers who have been stuck on the land for a long time.

The two Japanese ronin next to them would express their opinions in broken Jiangsu dialect from time to time.

They all said that they had heard of this man's reputation from senior martial artists when they were in Japan.

Wang Heng was quite prestigious along the coast because he had good relations with various daimyo in Japan and frequently donated money to Japanese warriors in order to facilitate the recruitment of soldiers from Japan.

It is said that the Ming Dynasty was cruel and the imperial examination was corrupt, so it could not retain such talented people.

But Zhu Houcong was silent.

Li Shunmin thought he was worried about this sea trip, so he said with a smile.

"Master, don't panic. Although Wang Heng is quite powerful at sea, he did not move his ancestral graves overseas like other pirates early. It is said that he still wants to pursue a career in the imperial examination, and he will not pay attention to the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty on weekdays. Excessive extortion, there are ships from the Great Angel here today, I believe our voyage will be safe——"

Li Shunmin is full of confidence in this.

After all, he didn't know where he mentioned the relatives who worked as aides beside Wang Heng.

Now that Wang Heng has had a small career overseas, all he can think about is how he will be ordered to stay by the imperial court, and then successfully clear his name and return home in fine clothes.

There is a Ming Dynasty envoy exploring the way ahead.

I am afraid that Wang Heng not only does not dare to invade, but also strictly restrains his subordinates to prevent them from causing trouble and not to collide with the envoys of the Celestial Dynasty during this period.

Li Shunmin started swinging the oars, and he was full of confidence in this.

But what surprised him was that the young man who had spent more than half of the time sitting on the boat listening quietly, and the few words he spoke was asking questions, suddenly stood up for no apparent reason.

Arriving at the bow of the ship, he stared straight ahead.

"I don't think so-"

Zhu Houcong said lightly.

A layer of black spots suddenly appeared on the sea not far away.

And with Zhu Houcong's extraordinary eyesight, he could naturally see the big "king" hanging on the leader's flagship.

(End of this chapter)