Zhu Mo, upon hearing this, suddenly had an idea:
Why not use Yu Dayou's fleet as bait, rely on shore-based artillery, and lay a trap for the Japanese pirate ships in Taizhou Bay or Hangzhou Bay?
Zhao Shizhen's second batch of "Iron Bodhisattva" cannons and firearms should arrive in about a month. If they had forty to fifty of them, half deployed on shore using the bay's terrain, some mounted on ships, and with musketeers also on merchant vessels for skirmishes within the bay, while warships block the strait head-on, the Japanese pirates would surely be annihilated.
However, he then thought that the Japanese pirates were so adept at fighting that they might not take the bait. And fighting head-on at sea, unless it was in an archipelago area like Zhoushan... After thinking for a while, feeling he had no immediate solution, he dropped the matter. The others then continued to discuss various aftermath matters.
Everyone present at this moment could be considered the most capable individuals in the Great Ming. With a few words, they could grasp the essence of matters, and with a little planning, always hit the nail on the head. Zhu Mo found himself unable to add much to the discussion.
After a meeting that lasted almost the entire day, the aftermath plan was finally formulated.
The next day,
The Provincial Governor's Yamen issued decrees one by one. Officials throughout Jiangnan executed them, and with the abundance of funds in the state-run banks, matters were handled with unparalleled efficiency. In just seven or eight days, order was largely restored. The Japanese pirates, lurking outside in their coastal strongholds, indeed did not make any further incursions.
...
Everything seemed to have calmed down. However, Zhu Mo and Zhang Juzheng knew this was merely a superficial calm. When it came to aftermath matters, what was the most significant? It was absolutely the delivery of the first batch of silk. Moreover, with spring now arriving, only with the delivery of this batch of silk would the reforms, which had been in turmoil for half a year, truly be put on solid ground.
On this day,
After discussing matters further at the Cirenci, the two still felt uneasy and went to Huating to inspect the newly purchased silk. Fortunately, the small workshops had already delivered their goods. Most of it had been consolidated in several large warehouses in Huating, and the state-run businesses had already paid a thirty percent advance. They were only waiting for foreign merchants to pay the full amount, and this new year would be considered a prosperous start.
Feeling slightly relieved, the two returned to Hangzhou from Huating as night fell.
As soon as they sat down, before they could even have a sip of tea, people from the state-run bank rushed in, crying out upon seeing them—
"Lord Zhang, Scholar Zhu! The foreign merchant ships have been sunk!"
With a bang!
The teacup in Zhu Mo's hand also fell to the ground.
Zhang Juzheng grabbed the person's collar and demanded, "Is that true?"
"It's true, Lord Zhang. Yu Dayou's navy mistook them for Japanese pirates and sank five ships!"
As he spoke,
The person then produced an urgent dispatch.
The two leaned in to read it, hardly believing it could be true.
Because the urgent dispatch was signed by Zhang Jing, and a copy had already been sent to the capital. This one was to notify all coastal provinces resisting the Japanese pirates, which stated:
"Ministry of War and all coastal provincial yamen:
On the sixteenth of March, at the hour of Hai, two Portuguese merchant ships and three Huihui merchant ships, off the coast of Fujian at Wuyu, were sunk by our navy's large vessels. The remaining ships struck their flags and fled into Xiamen. The Fujian coastal navy reported that at the time, Japanese pirates were attacking the Wuyu naval base, and the navy's large vessels mistakenly believed them to be Japanese pirates. Signed, Zhang Jing, Governor-General of Min-Zhe, and Liu Tao, Governor of Fujian."
This letter clearly had significant issues—
Firstly, it lacked the signature of Yu Dayou of the Fujian coastal navy. Secondly, the wording was very vague. First, why wouldn't merchant ships know to avoid contact? It should be known that the Fujian coastal navy had been engaging with Japanese pirates for decades, and these merchant ships were already familiar with the situation. Secondly, how did the navy sink the merchant ships? Why was there no military report of the Fujian coastal navy being attacked by Japanese pirates? And so on.
This kind of trickery was clearly no match for the experienced Zhang Juzheng, nor for Zhu Mo.
While others might not know, Zhu Mo recalled matters concerning the Ming dynasty's navy—
Indeed, in the Jiajing era, only Yu Dayou built large ships again, which was correct. However, despite being large ships, they lacked cannons and still used counterweight trebuchets. Although they could sink ships, they couldn't do so in such a short period. Sinking five ships in quick succession likely involved cannons. And in the current era, only the Portuguese, or "Folangji," possessed cannons. But the Portuguese would not share their cannon technology with the Great Ming.
It was quite obvious,
The Portuguese would also not sink their own merchant ships!
What about the Japanese pirates? Could they have done it?
The answer was also clear: The Japanese pirates were at war with the Great Ming, so how could they create another powerful enemy? Moreover, the Japanese pirates had always been on good terms with the Portuguese, even being nurtured by them, so how could they turn against them at this time?
Therefore,
The only suspect left was—
The Yan family!
This matter was likely orchestrated by Zhang Jing under the explicit orders of Yan Shifan. He might have found some pirates to launch a sneak attack on the Portuguese merchant ships, with the aim of preventing the state-run banks from making deliveries! This would then cooperate with the Japanese pirates to launch a final, desperate counterattack…
Such was the grand scheme, but there was another detail—
From a factual standpoint, only cannons could sink five ships in a short time, and cannons were possessed by the Portuguese. Why would they be given to pirate ships?
Did this mean—
The Portuguese were also involved, or even planned, this incident?
However, this also didn't quite add up.
Because the commander of the Portuguese fleet stationed in Ryukyu was dispatched by the royal family, and one of his duties was to protect his nation's merchant ships. So how could he sink them?
The more Zhu Mo thought about it, the more he felt there was a colossal web behind this affair.
...
At this time,
Zhang Juzheng was also thinking more and more unreasonably. Based on his profound understanding of officialdom tactics, Zhang Jing's actions were clearly intended to provoke diplomatic conflict and directly trigger protests from the Portuguese against the court. According to usual practice, this was the prelude to a major conflict. But could the Portuguese truly want to declare war on the Great Ming? That was also impossible…
Another matter was the word "sunk" (击沉).
Zhang Juzheng, being a prodigy, had recognized these two words at first glance. Because in previous naval battles, the term "smashed and sunk" (打沉) was often used, as the Ming navy used trebuchets. Why did Zhang Jing use "sunk" (击沉)? Was he hinting at something? While the Portuguese had cannons, how would they give them to others?
These various absurdities made even Zhang Juzheng's super-brain feel extremely perplexed.
At this moment,
He looked at Zhu Mo and suddenly remembered something, blurting out, "Zixuan, your cannons at Taizhou Guard…"
Ah!
That's right!
Zhu Mo also blurted out, "Right! My cannons!"
The two of them understood simultaneously—
The official gazette deliberately used the word "sunk" (击沉), which pointed directly to cannons. And currently, the only ones using cannons were not just the Portuguese, but also Zhu Mo's firearms battalion!
Zhang Jing's official gazette claimed that the Fujian coastal navy sank foreign merchant ships, implying that Zhu Mo's cannons were used!
This?
It was simply…
The two looked at each other, simultaneously feeling incredibly shocked, a thought occurring to both of them—
The Yan family had struck again!
Because,
Although Zhang Juzheng knew that Zhu Mo would certainly not give his cannons to others, what would others think? They would most likely believe that Zhu Mo had armed the Fujian coastal navy with cannons, conducting indiscriminate attacks on the Portuguese, Japanese pirates, pirates, and other forces! And the purpose, naturally, would be revenge for the defeat at Taizhou!
Hiss…
The two let out long sighs.