Daming, originally wanted to destroy it, but the system came

Chapter 363 Pirate Chen Zuyi?

In the large tent of the army, the commander of the military camp and the Xie family were brought in by Wang Fu.

"Kneel down," Wang Fu scolded: "The person in front of you is His Royal Highness the King of Dian, and even more so the imperial envoy granted by His Majesty. If you don't take the initiative to reveal your dirty deeds now, how long will it take?"

The two people were tied up and fell to their knees on the ground.

But after hearing Zhu Xi's name, the two looked at each other. Instead of being frightened, they looked happy.

"His Royal Highness the King of Dian? Are you His Royal Highness the King of Dian?" The commander of the guard shouted excitedly: "General Xie Yu, I wish to see His Highness live a thousand years."

"Your surname is Xie?" Zhu Ming was stunned.

Xie Yu smiled bitterly and looked up at Wang Fu, then looked at Zhu Ming, and said, "I dare not hide it from Your Highness. Xie Yu is from the Xie family. Because my father received divine grace in the past, I inherited this inheritance from my father." It is the duty of the commander of the guards. And this is my eldest brother. He has been living in Taizhou Prefecture since our branch was separated from Yutao. Your Highness, we really dare not break the law and discipline, let alone collude between government and businessmen. .”

The Xie clan members also hurriedly said: "Xie Chun, the little man, is a thousand years old, Your Highness. The little man is Xie Yu's brother. He came to the military camp today just to get together with his younger brother. How can I expect such a misunderstanding to happen? There is really a misunderstanding here." ah."

Wang Fu was dumbfounded. They were from the same family, and they were also brothers?

Unlike civilian officials, military household registration has continuity.

For high-ranking officials, this is an opportunity for rapid advancement.

Xie Yu even relied on the Xie family lineage to inherit his father's position and became the commander of the Taizhou Prefecture's guards. He could be said to be a big official.

However, military household registration is also very tricky. For ordinary soldiers, once someone dies in battle, another male from the family is required to supplement the soldiers.

Therefore, many families with military household registration in the later years will choose to flee their registration. They would rather risk being sentenced to heavy sentences if caught, or even risk beheading, to flee their registration.

The pressure of military household registration is really too great. Even the national hero Qi Jiguang inherited his father's position at the age of sixteen because of his father's death and had to shoulder a huge burden.

Also because of the inheritance system of military household registration, military generals do not need to be transferred to serve as officials, but are directly inherited and appointed in their original place.

Therefore, Xie Yu is indeed a descendant of the local Xie clan, and he and Xie Chun are biological brothers.

In this case, the Xie family does not need to win over or bribe Xie Yu.

But Zhu Ming looked at the two brothers and said meaningfully: "Misunderstanding? Is it just a misunderstanding? Don't think that I don't know what you are doing and go out to sea for smuggling privately. You Xie family can't defend it, right?"

The expressions of the Xie brothers changed drastically. They looked at Zhu Ming and finally lowered their heads, speechless.

Although the Xie family is indeed an aristocratic family, the Xie family in Taizhou Prefecture is a branch of the family. Its origin is in Yutao, so the Xie family is also called the Xie family in Simen, Yuyao.

Moreover, it is said that it is a thousand-year-old family. In fact, before the Ming Dynasty, the Xie family had always had a low reputation.

It would be better to say that the Xie family only began to rise again in the Ming Dynasty, producing many capable children and even anti-Japanese heroes.

This resulted in the Taizhou Xie family not having been in business for long in the local area. To put it bluntly, they had no money, no power, and no influence.

Unlike the previous aristocratic families, they have been operating in the local area for so many years and have become deeply rooted.

Zhu Ming's guess was correct. When it came to smuggling at sea, the Xie family did have their own merchant ships. It would be better to say that other merchant ships were just small businesses. The Xie family was the main smuggler. The largest merchant ship and caravan belonged to their Xie family. .

So when Zhu Zhen mentioned the matter of smuggling, the two brothers did not quibble, but acquiesced.

Zhu Ming snorted softly: "It seems that you are still a little self-aware. In this case, I am too lazy to pursue this small matter. Everyone, get up. Wang Fu, let them loose. Look, you have done a good job. Isn't there no big problem with this? .”

Zhu Ming said and looked down at the account book on the case.

This Xie Yu is quite honest, at least the accounts can be kept up to date, he does not take advantage of his salary, and the quality of the army is still guaranteed.

If this was like in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, with corruption in the army, empty pay, and even beheading for credit, etc., do you think Zhu Xi would not dare to kill him?

Especially when decapitating people to claim credit, it is said that some people beheaded people who were not harmed by Japanese pirates and went to the court to claim credit as Japanese pirates. This is simply even more cruel and cruel than Japanese pirates.

Xie Yu and Xie Chun were both a little surprised, even in disbelief.

Are you not going to deal with them?

"Isn't it just smuggling? You also have your difficulties. I am not so unkind," Zhu Zhen snorted softly: "After all, the aristocratic family is also a citizen of the Ming Dynasty."

Behind Zhu Chu, on the left are Xu Miaojin and Tang Xin, and on the right are Qian Gui and Gu Wen.

This sentence made Qian Gui and Gu Wen exchange glances, feeling quite pleased.

It seems that His Highness is not so narrow-minded.

In fact, the main reason is that Zhu Zhen feels that blindly banning the sea is not allowed. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang is to protect the people, isn't banning the sea a sign of cowardice?

What our majestic Ming Dynasty wants to do is not to ban the sea, but to vigorously develop it.

You know, when Zheng He went to the West, there was nothing happening in other countries, and the Age of Discovery would not begin to prosper until later.

It is no exaggeration to say that the fleet that Zheng He sailed to the West was an invincible force. The treasure ships carried countless treasures. Do you really think that pirates and other countries are not greedy for them?

Zheng He fought all the way and even fought a battle to destroy a country, even though the opponent was only a small country.

Moreover, Zheng He also eliminated the great pirate Chen Zuyi who had been harming the waters of the Ming Dynasty and causing great headaches to the court.

Chen Zuyi was also a ruthless character. At his peak, he had a pirate gang with tens of thousands of people and hundreds of warships. Even Japanese pirates had to avoid his attacks. He could be said to dominate Japan, Taiwan, the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean and other seas. .

In the end, he was defeated by Zheng He and even captured and brought back alive.

Zhu Ming was puzzled. Even a eunuch could accomplish such great deeds. Why should the sea be banned?

Japanese pirates dare to attack, isn't it because we don't have a strong navy?

If you are passive and receive beatings, then of course you are taking the initiative and are not afraid of you at all.

Just wait, sooner or later, the Ming Navy will definitely rise strongly.

Thinking about this, Zhu Xi chose to turn a blind eye to Xie's smuggling.

"I asked your prefect about your smuggling before, and he honestly explained the situation. I originally thought there were pirates here, so I asked specifically. Since you just want to make some money through smuggling, then make some money. "Okay. But in the future, when the sea ban is lifted, you will have to pay taxes." Zhu Zhen did not forget to knock it, and then waved his hand and said: "Okay, it's nothing, just leave it like that."

Zhu Zhen also knows that people in coastal areas are not rich nowadays, and with the sea ban, it is really not easy to make some money.

So he didn't plan to pursue it.

But Xie Chun's heart moved, and he suddenly knelt down again, crying sadly: "Your Highness, please make the decision."

"What the hell? Is your brother bullying you?" Zhu Chu didn't even understand. Why should he make the decision himself?

Xie Yu smiled awkwardly. He didn't dare to bully his eldest brother. His elder brother was like his father. This could be considered disobedient.

Xie Chun also quickly explained: "Your Highness, this is actually what happened."

According to what Xie Chun said, the Xie family and many merchants in Taizhou Prefecture are indeed engaged in smuggling business.

Not only them, Wenzhou Prefecture, even Ningbo Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture and other places also have similar situations.

It's not necessarily that the local officials didn't know, they just chose to turn a blind eye.

In fact, the more the imperial court implemented a maritime ban, the more Ming Dynasty products from the Central Plains became popular. As the saying goes, big fish come with big waves.

But as more and more merchant ships were smuggled and huge profits were made, some people gradually began to take a look at them.

"Pirates do exist, and they have become more and more rampant recently. Among them, a group of pirates is the most rampant. They are led by two brothers, the eldest brother is called Chen Zuyi, and the second brother is called Chen Zongsheng. They are very arrogant and will hijack and plunder all ships that pass by. .No one in the surrounding seas knows their names.”

"Three days ago, a group of our Xie family's merchant ships were hijacked by them. Except for a few people who saw the situation was bad and escaped in advance, there is no news about the others."

"Actually, I came to see my brother today just to ask if I could ask the prefect to send our Ming army to encircle and suppress him. All the expenses will be borne by our Xie family. We will also provide the ships to go to sea."

Xie Chun finally revealed his purpose for coming to the camp today.

It turns out that pirates have become rampant.

Even during the Hongwu period, it is said that Zhu Yuanzhang offered a reward of five hundred thousand taels of silver in order to deal with Chen Zuyi. Five hundred thousand taels is not a small amount.

"Then why didn't the Taizhou magistrate report the situation before?" Zhu Ming narrowed his eyes slightly. Could it be that the Taizhou magistrate was playing tricks on him? Want to fool yourself?

Xie Yu and Xie Chun both kept silent.

Xu Miaojin, on the other hand, leaned close to Zhu Min's ear and whispered: "He is just a prefect. The sea ban is His Majesty's will. He neither has the power to suppress bandits nor can he let people go to sea casually."

So he deliberately concealed the information about the pirates and used smugglers to fool them.

"At the same time, I don't want to harm his personal interests," Zhu Zhen sneered.

It's not that he doesn't understand the method.

If the imperial court knew that pirates were rampant but Taizhou Prefecture did not report it, at least it would be charged with inaction.

So the Taizhou magistrate thought that as long as he could fool Zhu Chu, everything would be fine.

Anyway, His Majesty is the one who banned the sea, so what does it have to do with him?

He thinks that as long as he has no faults, he has merit, and as long as he does nothing, he will not make mistakes.

But now that the pirates are bullying them, what can they get in exchange for being patient?

In fact, you can understand this if you think about it.

Another point is that those who dare to go to sea for business nowadays are all smugglers. Not only is it illegal in itself, but they do not need to pay taxes.

You don’t even pay taxes, so I still care about your life and death? It's good that I didn't catch you.

Therefore, the prefect of Taizhou knew that there were pirates overseas, but he just didn't want to deal with them or control them.

Xie Chun was helpless and found the military camp. He wanted to beg his brother Xie Yu for help and went to the prefect together to plead for mercy.

Although the prefect did not have the authority to mobilize troops to suppress bandits, he could report it to the court or the governor, who would then issue troop deployment instructions.

Neither the prefect of Taizhou nor Xie Yu had the power to dispatch troops. The prefect was only a local official in charge of the civil affairs of a place, while Xie Yu only had the power to command troops even as the commander of the guards.

Unless he is the commander of the capital.

For example, Qu Neng previously led troops from Sichuan to Heqing County for reinforcements. This was the right to mobilize troops.

These are very troublesome.

If Zhu Zhen hadn't been a vassal king who guarded the border and defended the country, he wouldn't have been able to lead the army out of Dali at will.

"Tell me about the specific situation. Do you know where those pirates are hiding now?" Zhu Zhen asked.

Xie Chun's eyes suddenly lit up, and then he gritted his teeth and said: "I know, they usually hide in Xiaoliuqiu. From there, they can spy on what merchant ships are coming in and out. They can hijack us."

"Xiao Liuqiu?" Zhu Zhen was stunned. He knew the Ryukyu Islands, but where did Xiao Liuqiu refer to?

It wasn't until Xie Yu took out a map of nearby sea areas from the side that Zhu Chu knew that today's Xiaoliuqiu refers to the treasure island of Taiwan in later generations.

By the way, why is Taiwan called Little Ryukyu?

Because Taiwan has always been in an embarrassing position before this.

Do you say Taiwan belongs to the Central Plains? Not to mention, in the earliest times, Taiwan was called Dongbo, belonging to Dongyi among the four barbarians.

Even in the Song Dynasty, even if the Southern Song Dynasty perished, they never thought of retreating to Taiwan.

On the contrary, during the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan once visited Taiwan and wanted to build something here as an outpost for conquering the Japanese islands in the future.

It's a pity that Taiwan used to be more like a primitive island that was out of touch with the world. There were also indigenous people on it, but they were difficult to tame.

Therefore, Kublai Khan was not able to land on the treasure island, so he had to settle for the next best option and set up an inspection department on Penghu Island.

And because since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, "Liuqiu" at that time referred to a series of mysterious and unknown wild islands "east of Penghu" and "south of Japan".

By the Ming Dynasty, the Ryukyu Kingdom had been established on the Ryukyu Islands, and it paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty and was canonized by the court.

Therefore, the Ryukyu Kingdom has a history and organization, so it is called Da Ryukyu.

As for Taiwan, it is called Xiaoliuqiu.

Zhu Ming did not expect that the pirate problem would actually involve Xiaoliuqiu, and he couldn't help but ask: "If I remember correctly, is it closer to Xiaoliuqiu from Kinmen?"

The Xie brothers looked at each other and smiled bitterly at each other.

"What?" Zhu Zhen saw that there seemed to be something hidden in it?

Xie Chun sighed and said: "Your Highness does not know something. In order to prevent Japanese pirates from harming the people, His Majesty established forty-five inspection departments, not only to patrol the coast, but also to implement the maritime ban. Among them, there is one on Penghu Island. The Procuratorate strictly prohibits people from landing on Pengdao and Xiaoliuqiu."

So even if they knew that pirates were rampant in Xiaoliuqiu today, no one would go up to suppress the bandits.

Moreover, Xiaoliuqiu also has its own aboriginal people who are very xenophobic. If they land on the island at will, unnecessary conflicts will occur.

At least for the time being, Xiaoliuqiu can be said to be lined with high mountains. It is an uncivilized land. It is conceivable that even the Southern Song Dynasty would not look down upon it.

In fact, just like Yunnan, Yunnan was managed by Mu Ying for ten years before countless fertile fields were cultivated. No wonder the people of Yunnan respected Mu Ying so much.

Xiaoliuqiu has not been developed yet. I am afraid there is not even much land for farming.

Therefore, all dynasties have not valued that small island, which has led to the fact that if we really want to trace the history of Taiwan, we can sum it up in one sentence: "Taiwan has no history." The Dutch people started it, the Zheng family built it, and the Qing Dynasty established it and established the foundation of Pi. It has been more than three hundred years now. '

From "General History of Taiwan" by Lian Heng.

It was precisely these and other factors that made the pirates regard Xiaoliuqiu as their best hideout.

Speaking of which, Chen Zuyi later dominated the surrounding waters for many years, and even dominated the Strait of Malacca for ten years. He was indeed quite capable.

It's just that he shouldn't have the guts to hurt the people of the Ming Dynasty regardless of the feelings of his compatriots.

"What's the difference between this teasing and the Japanese? They should be punished," Zhu Ming snorted coldly, looked at the Xie brothers and said: "Xie Yu, go and inform the whole army to rest early today and prepare to go to sea with me tomorrow. Xie Chun, the sea ban is strict now, and our army does not have ships. Since this is for you to go overseas this time, you prepare a big ship."

"It should be so, it should be so," Xie Chun didn't dare to say no, not to mention that this was a request he made on his own initiative. Not to mention a few ships, he was also responsible for the food and fodder for the expedition.

"After everything is done, I want to give some small money to reward the whole army," Xie Chun said proactively.

"It's not necessary," Zhu Ming said, "If you make great contributions, you will naturally be rewarded by the court. This is the time for them to make great contributions. Don't mess around. Shen Wansan wanted to reward the entire army on behalf of my father, but in the end he almost had all the troops. Copy and cut. What do you want to do?"

Reward the whole army? Is that what you can do? Who should the army owe its allegiance to in the end?

Zhu Chu had played this trick in Yunnan, and he was jealous of Lao Zhu because of it, and was even scolded, so that even his original immortal merits were suppressed.

If it weren't for the fact that the father and son ended up abandoning each other in the process of hurting each other, Zhu Zhen would not be as prosperous as he is today.

Xie Chun was too scared to say anything more.

"Wang Fu, you should have prepared early," Zhu Zhen told Wang Fu again, then called his entourage, and, surrounded by guards, returned to the government office in a grand manner.

In the government office, the Taizhou magistrate had early prepared a large table of delicacies for Zhu Chu.

But after learning that Zhu Zhen suddenly left in the afternoon and has not returned yet, he seemed a little anxious.

"Is there something wrong somewhere?" The Taizhou magistrate muttered in his heart.

At this moment, a servant came to report that Zhu Chu and his party were back.

The Taizhou magistrate felt moved, quickly straightened his clothes, and then went out to greet him.

Outside the hospital, Zhu Chu strode in. Without waiting for the Taizhou magistrate to pay his respects, he said: "Taizhou magistrate listens to the order. Tomorrow the king will lead an army to sea to attack pirates. You should write a memorial and submit it to the court now. Just say This is what the king means."

The Taizhou magistrate was shocked, lowered his head with a complex expression, and agreed: "Yes."

(End of this chapter)