At this moment,
The door attendant rushed in and handed Hu Zongxian a letter, saying, "The messenger said nothing, only that it was for the Minister."
Hu Zongxian opened it and blurted out, "Good! This is good! Look quickly, you all look, Zhu Mo and Yu Da You are preparing for a decisive battle!"
The three men read it.
Qi Jiguang was both delighted and worried, saying, "They also believe Jinshanwei is more likely, which is the same as our assessment. This way, we can fight in the area from Huating to Fengjing... but Zhu Mo only sent half of the artillery corps, is that enough? That's only five or six hundred men!"
Hu Zongxian, having personally witnessed cannons and firearms, was very confident, saying,
"Yuan Jing, half is enough... He still wants to fight at sea... Think about it, if they all disembark, and the pirates escape to sea, how can they be chased if they get back on their ships? Yu Da You is skilled in military tactics, and his thoughts are likely not wrong. He sent half ashore, and the other half are likely already ambushing in the Zhoushan area. When the pirates retreat, the shore party boards the ships, forming a pincer attack... I believe this is also a good plan! What do you think?"
Tan Lun was not part of the Yan faction, but after more than a month, he had not received any secret letter from Prince Yu. He guessed that Prince Yu might also want to wait and see, which was why he had been staying indoors. Seeing that Zhu Mo and Yu Da You's strategy was feasible, he was also very happy. As long as he, Tan Lun, was not involved, he said,
"Ruzhen, Yuan Jing, I don't think there will be any problem."
Qi Jiguang snorted inwardly, thinking: This Tan Lun, knowing there are problems, refuses to say a word, too concerned about self-preservation. At this time, must they really force the issue with the Yan family? This will lead to no good outcome...
He was always straightforward and righteous, and he didn't want to comment on what others did, but he was worried about another matter, saying,
"Minister, I think the troops are still too few... Should your Governor-General's office also issue a recruitment order? And ask Governor Zhang Han and Zi Li to recruit some volunteers?"
Hu Zongxian shook his head and sighed, saying,
"Yuan Jing, times are different now. I, this Governor-General, am already a wanted criminal. Although you, Qi Jiguang, still have some appeal, a defeated general does not boast of courage... How can you recruit more men? Zhang Juzheng, Zhu Mo, including Governor Zhang Han and Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Liu Yingjie, are all advocating for reform. Now the whole city is clamoring that reform has led to the decline of the Great Ming, so they have no appeal either... Haven't you seen? The notice posted from the Ci Ren Ci was torn down within moments. Who believes it anymore...
All we can do to resist the Japanese is to post a proclamation against them. Perhaps the common people remember our years of fighting the Japanese and our efforts. If it's not torn down immediately, it can be a warning to the people..."
Saying this,
He spoke with a desolate tone, as if his life's path had reached its end.
The two were immediately dejected.
This old Yan Song and the Japanese pirates orchestrated such a scheme, and with Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen further instigating and misleading, the situation became unmanageable overnight? The people's hearts were originally well, but they were so easily incited. With a few words from Luo Longwen and Yan Maoqing, it spread like wildfire. Why was this?
Qi Jiguang was a general. He would not be convinced until the outcome was decided on the battlefield. At this moment, he said,
"Let's fight first. If we win, everything will be resolved! Minister, Zi Li, I'll leave first. I'll head south and then east, and ambush in the Qingpu area in advance..."
He walked out without looking back, his body exuding a tragic aura.
The two could not help but feel sad.
Tan Lun pondered, "Ruzhen, what do you think Zhu Mo is doing now? Doesn't he know the Japanese are coming? He should be doing something too! What about Zhang Taiyue?"
Hu Zongxian gave a bitter smile and said,
"What else can he do? This young man, at one moment regarded as a savior by the people, at another moment called a culprit... Loved to the point of wanting them alive, hated to the point of wanting them dead... Now the merchants and people of the four provinces have been incited, wishing to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin. This Bodhisattva is no longer effective...
Zhang Taiyue is also deeply mired, unable to extricate himself. These past few days, I've sent people to watch the streets, and everywhere people are saying the first bad person is Zhu Mo, and the second is Zhang Juzheng. His state-run money house and Ci Ren Ci are surrounded by thousands of people every day. If it weren't for the fact that many officials are already his confidantes, his decrees would not be communicated. What else can he do? Not even as well as us..."
Tan Lun thought for a moment and naturally understood the reason deeply.
The common people are like this. They often cannot distinguish what is beneficial to them. Take the current reforms and resistance against the Japanese, both were going well. But because the Yan faction was causing trouble behind the scenes, the situation collapsed overnight. The common people mistakenly believed that the reforms caused the collapse, and thinking the country was about to fall, they began to protest.
In a way, this was not wrong.
But that's the problem. Imagine, the common people patriotic and running around, that's a good thing, how can it be stopped? But it is precisely the strangeness that their emotions were exploited. Not only were the arrows aimed at the wrong people, but because they were constantly shouting and running around, they delayed preparations for war. When disaster strikes, they may not even understand who schemed against them.
This person, being always capable, acted on his thoughts and immediately began writing a proclamation.
Hu Zongxian had no inclination to look at it and said faintly,
"Zi Li, you have a long way to go. You must not suffer with me... In the future, the Great Ming will still need talents like you to salvage it... You and Yuan Jing do not need to sign this name, nor should you drag Zhang Han into trouble, which is also useless... I will sign it alone."
He immediately scribbled his name and sent someone to print it, then dispatched the Governor-General's yamen runners to post it in Hangzhou and various prefectural and county seats.
...
The next day,
Zhu Mo arrived in Hangzhou. Ten musketeers stayed close, yet many civilians still surrounded him, shouting abuses, such as "Kill Zhu to save Ming." If not for the musketeers' constant protection, his head would have been smashed by stones.
Passing by several posted notices, he saw people gathered around a proclamation, their faces frightened, constantly whispering to each other. He dismounted and saw it was a preparedness document issued by Hu Zongxian himself, with a tone of earnest pleading for the people to save themselves.
But the common people did not understand the current perilous situation. Upon hearing that the Japanese were about to land, they were already terrified, and discussions ensued:
"Are the Japanese really coming now?"
"I heard from relatives in Zhenhai that they hear the Japanese howling in Zhoushan every night! They say they want to land and bloodbath Jiangnan!"
"Then what should we do? Why are we only finding out now?"
"They say the Japanese have brought a hundred thousand troops!"
"The Japanese have made it known that the people of Jiangnan who followed Zhu Mo's troublemaking will be severely punished..."
"So that's how it is. In the end, it's all because of the reforms causing trouble. They were right after all, it's the reforms that caused this great disaster..."
"Alas, this damned Zhu Mo! Why does he have to cause trouble in Jiangnan instead of elsewhere!"
"This Hu Zongxian is a good person, reminding us to prepare for war..."
"Haha? Good my ass! He's faking it!"
"Right! Hu Zongxian suffered a defeat, and now he's asking us common folk?"
"Preposterous!"
"Hu Zongxian has been causing trouble for these years, how many Japanese has he actually fought?"
"What else is there to say? The elders of Jiangnan remember my efforts? Bah! What efforts!"
"Look, look at this sentence... What, hoping the common people will form groups of five or ten households and prepare for war with all their might? Hahaha... What a joke! What do we common folk have to prepare for war with?"
"Prepare for what war? Let's all die!"
"..."
This proclamation, originally intended to warn the people, instantly triggered greater anger. Amidst the fear, this emotion became even more extreme. If before it was merely annoyance, now it was resentment.