The execution was complete, and public sentiment had been placated.
Even the most obtuse citizens had understood the truth behind the affair – it was Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen who had been orchestrating everything, spending hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to incite unrest and treat the people of the four provinces like fools. And in their machinations, they had delayed the crucial matter of resisting the Japanese pirates. Everyone knew Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen; weren't they puppets of that notorious figure?
Now that the Japanese pirates had landed, most people, thinking of their cruelty, were terrified. They surrounded the flogged men, hurling insults. Many picked up stones and began to smash them; if not for the intervention of the yamen runners, the three would have been torn to shreds.
Seeing that the situation was stable and public opinion was appeased, Zhang Juzheng judged that there would be no further complications. He descended from the platform, grabbed Wu Ming, and asked in a low voice, "Where are Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen?"
Wu Ming was also frustrated by the matter. Everything had been going smoothly, but for some unknown reason, the news had leaked, and the two had fled the previous night. Their plan had been to bring Luo Longwen to justice this time, but this single oversight had led to their plan's failure.
It should be known that Luo Longwen was merely an ink craftsman from Huizhou, skilled in ink-making his entire life. Because Yan Song favored calligraphy and insisted on using the finest ink, Luo Longwen frequently visited the Yan mansion. Coupled with his extreme cunning, he was chosen as a strategist by Yan Shifan. Over the past twenty years, he had devised countless malicious schemes, causing the deaths of many loyal officials. Since he was a commoner, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, despite verifying many of his misdeeds, had been unable to apprehend him.
This time, Luo Longwen's involvement in colluding with the Japanese pirates and disrupting the populace during wartime meant that even if he weren't sentenced to death, he could have received dozens of strokes, sufficient to curb his arrogance. But his escape naturally caused great displeasure.
Yan Maoqing, on the other hand, was a Jinshi scholar. Although his official rank only reached that of Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, he had long served as the overall supervisor of the four Salt Transport Commissions, controlling the entire salt industry of the Great Ming. He had been dismissed and was awaiting trial after the last loss of one million taels of silver from salt taxes, and subsequent major events had prevented his reinstatement. If they were to arrest him now, it would be inappropriate, as it would stir up the entire faction of officials dependent on the Yan family, leading to an earlier deterioration of the situation.
Wu Ming could only reply, "Luo Longwen is incredibly cunning. Perhaps knowing the Japanese pirates had landed, he fled in advance..."
Zhang Juzheng pondered for a moment and sighed, "Let them go... as long as the overall situation is stable..."
Returning to the Hall of Ci Ci, Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Han issued a notice, officially ordering a province-wide lockdown.
At this moment, with the civil unrest quelled, everyone returned home in a state of apprehension, who would dare to cause trouble? Thus, the orders were obeyed without question, and the imperial army and the civilian militia were mobilized, bringing everything to a quiet stability.
...
Meanwhile, within Huating City.
Liu Yingjie and Ni Guangjian felt immense pressure.
After dawn, scouts reported that the Japanese pirate army had advanced directly to the city gates. Ni Guangjian, having never experienced such a situation, was immediately at a loss.
Liu Yingjie, being a military man, could not find suitable personnel and had to personally come to Huating to oversee the defense. He immediately ordered the imperial army and the local militia to close all city gates. The preparations made just two days prior, though hasty, did not result in any errors.
However, the Japanese pirates were peculiar. They dragged many seawater-soaked logs with their carts, and upon arrival, they built ten large encampments around the city, with smaller stockades nearby, forming a continuous line clearly designed for a siege and to prevent reinforcements. He had intended to wait for Zhu Mo or Qi Jiguang to arrive from anywhere and then immediately open the gates to sally forth for a pincer attack. But with the pirates establishing their encampments, leaving the city would no longer be a matter of open field warfare but a trap where they would be hunted by the enemy.
Therefore, from the city walls, he personally witnessed the Japanese pirate army emerging from their encampments and heading west. Knowing they were going to intercept Qi Jiguang, he dared not leave the city. No matter how much the local militia agitated, he strictly forbade any sorties, even issuing a death order: anyone who left the city without authorization would be considered a Japanese pirate!
In this precarious situation, Liu Yingjie deeply felt that this battle was the most perilous he had ever faced. With even the slightest mistake, if Huating fell, the entire situation of the realm would be overturned.
At this moment, his only hope was that at least one of Qi Jiguang's or Zhu Mo's units would achieve victory. If the situation was favorable, he would open the gates and launch a pincer attack. But observing the situation from morning, the siege of Huating was likely to be prolonged. For Zhu Mo or Qi Jiguang to break through such formidable pirate encampments would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.
At this moment, it was already noon. He sighed sadly and said to the county magistrate Ni Guangjian, "Lord Ni, the Japanese pirates have dug deep trenches and built high walls, clearly intending to wage a protracted siege... This Huating will likely become a ghost town..."
For some reason, at this moment, he suddenly remembered the Siege of Suiyang in the Tang Dynasty, where Zhang Xun defended to the last, preventing the enemy from breaking through the crucial defense line, thus buying time for the Tang army. But the cost was tragic; the city of Suiyang had almost become a living hell. He thought of his fifteen years of defense at Jingxing Pass, and now, as an Surveillance Vice Commissioner in Jiangnan, he thought he would change his fate, only to find himself trapped in a besieged city once again. He couldn't help but think that fate was predetermined, and perhaps he was destined to defend cities, and thus, he rallied himself, saying, "Lord Ni, from today onwards, all grain within the city must be collected and distributed according to headcount daily. Not a single grain should be wasted!"
Ni Guangjian, who had expected Jiangnan to be a land of prosperity, unexpectedly encountered such a fierce battle and could only resign himself, sighing, "Lord Liu, I will do as you say..."
...
At the same time, west of Huating, north of Fengjing,
at Shihu Dang.
The overcast afternoon remained cold, with the ground littered with the corpses of soldiers.
Qi Jiguang and Okumura Juntada indeed had a brutal encounter.
Wang Rulong led the charge eastward along the Mao River. When turning north at Miao Family Dyke, he was met with sniper fire from the Franks' cannons and matchlock guns of Okumura Juntada's domain. He circled north again and was intercepted head-on by elite ronin. After a fierce engagement, over a thousand were killed or wounded. Wang Rulong was injured in the left arm. Chen Ziluan arrived to cover the retreat, allowing them to withdraw to Shihu Dang.
Shihu Dang, despite its name, was a wetland.
Qi Jiguang's main tent was set up on the shore.
With his sharp edge blunted, he looked out and saw the morale of the entire army had fallen. He had thought they could emerge from the shadow of the defeat at Taizhou, but instead, the despondency was even heavier. The Yiwu soldiers, fighting in their home territory and seeing the devastation left by the rampaging Japanese pirates, were even more depressed.
Qi Jiguang had experienced countless setbacks in his life, but never had he been as distressed as this time – the Japanese pirates' encirclement tactics were incredibly effective, and both their scouting parties were equipped with firearms. They patrolled around the city, sniping, making them seemingly impregnable. His own army, attempting to create an opening through maneuver, lacked sufficient time due to the city's small size. As soon as a battle began here, the scouting party from the other side would arrive, and they could be surrounded at any moment.
Shihu Dang was the only safe place in the area. If they advanced even three to four li further east, they would lose their retreat route. By holding here, if the time grew long, the enemy's patrolling forces could outflank them from any direction at any time.
He, who always cared for his soldiers and generals, collected himself and personally examined Wang Rulong's injured left arm. He saw two or three small iron shot embedded in the flesh, and a palm-sized area had already become rotten. Chen Ziluan cursed, "Damn it, the Frankish muskets are too vicious, all loaded with fine iron shot! They turn a man into a sieve!"