Jiajing sneered, "Do you know why I summoned Wu Dui?"
Lü Fang, without a moment's hesitation, replied, "Your Majesty's wisdom shines like a torch..."
"Hmph,"
"I called Wu Dui because Li Tingzhu is no longer reliable..."
Lü Fang, astonished and anxious, blurted out, "Won't that lead to great chaos? Your Majesty, we must replace him quickly... Isn't he a descendant of Li Wenzhong? How could he be like this?"
Jiajing calmly said, "Don't worry, Wu Dui will stop him..."
Lü Fang thought for a moment and said, "That's right, if Wu Dui can work diligently for someone like Gao Gong, he'll certainly be even more devoted to Your Majesty..."
Jiajing finally nodded, muttering, "Adversity reveals true loyalty... What about those outside, what did I say? They are much better than Yang Tinghe, aren't they?"
Lü Fang gave a wry smile, "Indeed, old Yan Song had more skills than Yang Tinghe..."
He had been secretly watching all morning, and recalling the scene still made him feel a bit fearful. He couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, are we just going to let them have their way? What exactly are they trying to do?"
"What are they trying to do? First, they'll pressure Xu Jie, then Yu Wang, then you, and finally me..."
A cold smile crept onto Jiajing's face.
Lü Fang said, "Isn't it just a palace coup? Why go through so many detours..."
"Lü Fang, you don't understand... they are waiting. Waiting for what? Waiting for the Japanese pirates to land! Then all sorts of demons and monsters will jump out..."
Jiajing had been planning for a long time and was experienced in dealing with palace coups. He had not only grasped Yan Song's intentions but was also fully confident.
Lü Fang was still counting on his fingers, "One Japanese pirate, Mang Yinglong, Zheng Jian, Li Tingzhu can be counted as one, and then there's Dajisun from Chahar..."
Jiajing nodded and smiled calmly, "You can't count them all. These people are all waiting to see. The Japanese pirates landing is one thing, but they still have to win... If they can't win, what's the point? They'll all retreat then..."
Amidst the heart-pounding events, Lü Fang felt a weariness towards this game. He shook his head, "Your Majesty, this servant believes that the Great Ming dynasty truly needs reform. If things continue like this, a catastrophe will be inevitable..."
This statement,
Jiajing wholeheartedly agreed and sighed, "Yes, that's why I'm letting Zhu Mo proceed freely. Rather than wait for them to force a coup, it's better to take the initiative to rectify things..."
...
Zhu Mo and Yu Dayou landed in the area of Hulu Mountain and Yangliu Mountain at the mouth of the Qiantang River in Hangzhou Bay, and then began constructing a naval stronghold, relying on the islands and reefs.
As they landed and gazed at the vast sea, they reflected on how solitary this battle was. Even fighting the Japanese pirates required stealth, and they were completely unaware of the times they lived in.
Zhu Mo, being completely ignorant of naval warfare, couldn't help but ask, "Commander Yu, when do you think the Japanese pirates will land, and where will they attack?"
Yu Dayou, having fought naval battles for twenty years, could almost smell the Japanese pirates in the sea breeze. Based on instinct, he firmly stated, "Please look, Scholar Zhu. The tide is rising. This great tide will continue for more than ten days, rising four to five feet... This subordinate believes the Japanese pirates will land within three days!"
"Oh..."
Zhu Mo could only trust him and asked, "Where will they land?"
Yu Dayou shook his head and said, "That's unknown. This subordinate believes there are two possibilities: one is at Taizhou Guard, and the other is at Jinshan Guard... Compared to the two, Jinshan Guard is more likely..."
Zhu Mo nodded, thinking: The Japanese pirates did not take the Ming army seriously at all. The only two individuals they feared were Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou. Among them, Qi Jiguang was the one most favored by the people. Once Qi Jiguang was defeated, the hearts of the people in the four provinces of Jiangnan would collapse.
Moreover, there was a deeper motive—
The Japanese pirates' current campaign was also a political maneuver, aiming to use its deterrent effect to coordinate with the Yan Party's efforts to force a palace coup. If Qi Jiguang was eliminated, or even surrounded, it would lead to a naked struggle for power in the court. It was possible that the dynasty would change, and Jiajing would become a retired emperor...
Upon thinking this, he stated with certainty:
"I have the same view. The Japanese pirates will most likely head towards the Qi family army, and since the Qi family army is currently north of Huating and southeast of Taihu Lake, landing at Jinshan Guard would allow for the fastest surprise attack... Additionally, the official money shops in Huating have hundreds of thousands of bolts of silk. How could the Japanese pirates not be tempted?"
"Yes, yes, yes, the Japanese pirates are bandits. For wealth, they would risk their lives. Since there is so much silk, I can say with certainty that they will land at Jinshan Guard!"
Yu Dayou looked at Zhu Mo and then said,
"We are currently at the mouth of the Qiantang River. We can either go south to intercept at Xiaoshan or north to flank at the Pinghu area. Even if the Japanese pirates know I am here, they will not engage in a head-on, attritional battle. Instead, they will take advantage of the tide and land at Turtle Mountain outside Jinshan Guard during the night or at dawn... The Japanese pirates have always underestimated our army's land warfare. They fear no one except the Qi family army, so they believe they are safe once they land."
"Mmm, mmm,"
Zhu Mo heartily agreed.
This meant that the decisive battle would take place between Huating and Jinshan Guard.
The two men made further deployments and felt that there were no major issues. The remaining task was to formulate the combat plan.
...
The two men, holding maps, discussed continuously.
Before they knew it, an hour had passed.
Zhu Mo looked out and saw ships shuttling back and forth across the vast bay, and the nascent form of a naval stronghold gradually appeared before their eyes.
Zhu Mo couldn't help but exclaim with admiration, "To have formed a naval stronghold so quickly, it's much faster than constructing fortifications in land warfare. Naval warfare is completely different from land warfare...
However, Commander Yu, I still feel we have too few ships. You have less than two hundred here. I heard that during the Yongle period, there were two to three thousand warships... If we had a thousand now, we could even ram the Japanese pirates to sink them."
Yu Dayou shook his head and smiled wryly, "Alas, they rotted long ago. Where are the ships? These are all that I have accumulated over the years... The largest ships now are only four hundred tons, which are considered large. Look, these Fujian ships, but in the past, twelve hundred tons was considered a large ship! You don't know, my Great Ming navy used to have many more ships, over twenty types. I've traveled to coastal guards everywhere, but all I see are rotten wood..."
Zhu Mo naturally knew the sorry state of the Great Ming navy's decline. Coastal guards used to be equipped with a thousand warships of various types, but by the Jiajing era, there weren't even ten. The reason, as he saw it, was nothing more than a validation of his own theory of the transport dynasty; in short, they had been dismantled and sold off.
Along the way, he knew that Yu Dayou was very knowledgeable about naval warfare. Thinking about equipping them with artillery and firearms, he asked, "Commander Yu, how did you fight the Japanese pirates before? We discussed equipping them with firearms on the road. It's urgent now, shall we start today?"
Yu Dayou nodded, and as soon as he spoke of his expertise, he became animated and began to explain:
"Ten years ago, when we fought at Shuangyu, we used large Fujian ships as ramparts and, taking advantage of the wind, broke enemy ships into pieces. Smaller swift boats would then surround them, four or five to one, emphasizing speed. Sometimes, we would use very small skiffs to surround and attack. When we couldn't bite through, we would use mother-child ships, fire dragons, and linked ships to charge and burn them...
Alas, it's a pity that our matchlock guns are not good and their numbers are few. Most of the time, when two ships engage, we cannot match them and can only outnumber them. It's manageable against Japanese ships, but difficult against Portuguese ships. Their artillery can strike from afar, and our ships can't get close..."