Rise From the Humble

In the 31st year of Jiajing's reign, at the beginning of winter, Zhoushan Ligang was completed! A huge port, a fortress with artillery, a row of trading bazaars, a Franconian church, and thousands of houses.

Everything is even more brilliant than the original Shuangyu Port.

On the day when Ligang was built, Wang Zhi, the overlord of the sea and the uncrowned king of Japanese pirates, hosted a banquet for the leaders of the Japanese pirates in Ligang. Regardless of whether they were Japanese pirates directly under Wang Zhi's command, indirect Japanese pirates under Wang's direct control, or Japanese pirates who were not under Wang's direct control and were not unified with each other, almost all the Japanese pirate leaders with honor and dignity attended the banquet. Even those who were hostile to the Japanese pirates were very considerate and sent people to attend. For example, Xu Hai, although he did not attend the banquet in person, he sent Saburo Tobayashi to celebrate with generous gifts.

The banquet venue was placed in the open space in front of Ligang Pier. It was covered with red carpet and several tables were placed.

There were hundreds of Japanese pirate leaders, big and small, and they were seated in order of strength.

Wang Zhi sat at the most distinguished head of the banquet, displaying his "King of Hui" honors vividly. He wore a gilt embroidered golden python scarlet robe, a jade belt tied around his waist, a gold-topped yellow umbrella with five eaves, and four yellow umbrellas beside him. Beautiful maids accompanied him, and behind him fifty sturdy guards in gold armor and silver helmets lined up like a fan.

"Everyone, today is the day when Ligang is completed. It is a day of great joy for us, so I invite you all to a banquet to congratulate us."

Wang Zhi raised the golden bottle, laughed heartily, and said to the Japanese pirates.

"Thank you King Hui. It's all thanks to King Hui's planning that we have a place like Ligang."

"The lord is mighty, I'll wait until it's all done."

"Congratulations, Your Majesty."

"Congratulations to Chief Wang."

All the Japanese pirate leaders at the banquet stood up one after another and raised their glasses respectfully. Their names for Wang Zhi were not uniform. Some call them King Hui, some call them Alliance Leader, some call them Great King, and some call them Wang Leader. From the inconsistent titles, we can also see that the Japanese pirates are not monolithic.

"Today we drink this glass of wine together, and in the future we will share the glory and wealth of sea trade." Wang Zhi looked at the Japanese pirate leader with satisfaction, raised the golden bottle with high spirits, raised his head and drank the wine in the glass.

"Share the glory and wealth." A group of Japanese pirate leaders shouted, raising their glasses and drinking down the wine in one gulp.

"Everyone, please take a seat. Come on, pass on the dancing girl to the stage to add to the fun." Wang Zhi invited a group of Japanese pirates to sit down, and passed on the dancing girl.

Soon, a group of graceful Japanese women came on stage, twisting their waists and limbs during the banquet, like Liu Fufeng.

A group of Japanese pirates who were fooling around were so excited that some of them boldly pulled the dancer into his arms and raised and lowered his hands. Wang Zhi laughed and did not stop her. The other Japanese pirates also followed suit when they saw this.

All of a sudden, the banquet became hot.

"Leader, our Ligang will not suffer the disaster of Shuangyu Port again, right?!" There was a Japanese pirate leader at the banquet who had experienced the disaster of Shuangyu Port. The disaster of that day was still vivid in his mind, and he couldn't help but said to Wang Zhi with some worry.

"He Laosan, you are overthinking it. Now, whether it is Ningbo Prefecture, Shaoxing Prefecture, or Hangzhou Prefecture, they all acquiesce to our private market, and the government turns a blind eye to this."

"The day before yesterday, I took Erlang, my subordinate, to the streets of Suzhou Mansion to buy a hundred bolts of cloth, and the government officials of Suzhou Mansion didn't care about it."

"That's right, you're the one who thinks too much! The older you get, the less courageous you are. It's really funny."

The banquet was in full swing, and He Laosan poured cold water on it, and all the Japanese pirates couldn't help laughing.

"No, once bitten by a snake for ten years, I was afraid of well ropes. Back then, I personally experienced the disaster of Shuangyu Port. It was really a river of blood."

He Laosan shook his head and smiled wryly.

When the other Japanese pirates heard this, they laughed even more, "At one time or another, the government now acquiesces to the private market. I heard that many officials also proposed to impose a sea ban. The common people in Fujian and Zhejiang are even more interested in the private market. There is a saying, what is the trend of the times, this sea trade is the trend of the times.”

"What He Laosan is worried about is not unfounded. I also experienced it personally at Shuangyu Port. If I hadn't escaped by luck, I would not have the chance to sit in front of you today."

Wang Zhi waved his hand to stop the chaos in the field, stretched out his finger and pointed at He Laosan, and said leisurely.

The field fell silent for a while.

"The private market is always a small business, and it's hard to make a big deal. Only when the Ming court opens up the Hong Kong market, can our generation make great achievements."

Wang Zhi slowly glanced at the group of Japanese pirates, then looked at the sea in the distance, and said firmly.

"Open the port to connect the city?!"

All the Japanese pirates looked at each other, but they didn't expect Wang Zhi's ideal to be so grand.

"That's right! It means opening up the port and opening up the market! For today's world, it is a world of maritime trade! Fo Langji's merchant ships traveled thousands of miles to all the barbaric lands in the ocean, and they have already made a lot of money. What is the Ming Dynasty worth? The center of the world, the population and wealth are billions of times that of the barbaric land, and it contains huge business opportunities and wealth. As long as the port is opened and the city is opened, we will have endless glory and wealth!"

Wang Zhi said to the Japanese pirates in high spirits, and painted a grand plan for them in a prosperous maritime trade.

All the Japanese pirates couldn't help but look hot.

He Laosan and some calm Japanese pirates are cautious about the grand plan drawn by Wang Zhi.

The sea ban is the national policy of the Ming Dynasty, can it be allowed to open the port? !

"Haha, He Laosan, although your worries are not unfounded, you are too pessimistic! As they said, sea trade has been driven by the general trend! You just said that Shuangyu Port, haha, yes, Zhu Wan destroyed it In Shuangyu Port, Li Guangtou and others were killed, so what?! Zhu Wan was ignorant of current affairs and enforced a strict sea ban. As a result, he was tortured to death by the scholar-bureaucrats who were interested in sea trade in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. From then on, the inspection ministers no longer set up , no one inside or outside the imperial court dares to mention the maritime ban again! Moreover, look at Zhang Damao, He Dapao and the others around you. They were the Fujian navy that destroyed Shuangyu Port. After they defeated Shuangyu Port, When Zhu Wan was disbanding these pirate ships, the imperial court did not pay them, which caused a mutiny in the Fujian Navy. Most of the warships went directly to the king's command. Zhang Damao and He Dapao were among the 100 households of the Navy, and now they have become We are dead! Many officials have written letters admonishing us to impose a sea ban, so sea trade is the general trend!"

"Not to mention, the year before last, I cooperated with the Jiangsu and Zhejiang officials to capture the notorious pirates Lu Qi and Shen Jiu. Last year, I was entrusted by the Haidao Yamen to capture and kill Chen Sipan, making great contributions to maintaining order in the sea area."

"So, it's time. I have decided to ask the Ming court for trade and the opening of ports and markets tomorrow!"

"With the opening of the port and the city, everything will be legal, and the disaster at Shuangyu Port will never happen again! Our prosperous age is here!"

Wang Zhi was full of ambition, raised his wine glass, and spoke impassionedly to the Japanese pirates, as if he were a god.