Wu Haiping gasped and asked: "On the night I was in Liaoyang before, I thought that I fell into your hands, and I was never lucky, it was because of your intercession that Wu Moufang lived to this day. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoIt's just, Wu doesn't understand, why do you want to do that?!"

Gao Jie said: "I don't like to kill people, and I don't want fresh lives to easily disappear in front of me. Everything that our predecessors did was done for a reason. Your father, Wu Ping, the Sea Dragon King, was a maritime merchant in Fujian and Guangdong, and to the Ming court, he may be a pirate or a widow, but in the hearts of the younger generations, he does not agree. The younger generation thinks that the people along the coast of Fujian and Guangdong should cast nets to fish and go to sea to run business. At that time, the imperial court imposed a sea ban because of the fear of foreign intentions, cutting off the way for fishermen to survive, Wu Ping's predecessors led the people to risk their lives to run the business, and were put on the hat of pirates and widows, and they were exterminated, which was a tragedy and a tragedy!"

Gao Jie came from later generations, majored in archaeology, and did a lot of research on the so-called anti-Japanese war in the late Ming Dynasty, and had an objective judgment when looking at the so-called Japanese pirates.

To trace this peculiar and tragic Jiajing disaster, we must start from the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born as a peasant and was ignorant and disgusted with the blue sea civilization, issued a sea ban in the fourth year of Hongwu (1371) - "no plates are allowed to enter the sea", leaving only a distorted official tributary trade, which survived because it brought the feeling of "dominating the world and all nations coming to court", leaving a narrow door gap for Sino-foreign exchanges.

In the second year of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1523), Ningbo successively received two groups of Japanese tributary ships, in order to compete for the identity of "authentic tribute envoys", they killed each other, harmed the civilians, and caused an extremely bad "tribute incident". This allowed the Korean and Chinese maritime ban faction to find a truth, and the "troubles caused by the city" were abolished, and the Fujian and Zhejiang cities were abolished. Since then, the tributary trade has also been banned.

However, the thriving maritime trade could not be stopped. In the 16th century, during the Age of Discovery, the world trade circle connected by sea was booming, and the Oriental Trade Circle, where China is located, was an important part of it, containing huge wealth and business opportunities. Soon, like a vine with strong vitality, the smuggling trade along the coast of Zhejiang developed rapidly, and took root in Shuangyu Port - this island hangs off the coast of Zhejiang, choking the key points of many routes, and was listed as a "national repatriation and abandonment land" in the early Ming Dynasty, and the islanders moved inward, so it became a feng shui treasure for smuggling ships to gather and trade. Soon, with Shuangyu Port as the base, several powerful maritime groups led by the Xu brothers and Li Guangtou gradually gained wings, while the Portuguese built roads and houses on the island and opened up towns. In its heyday, Shuangyu Port also gathered maritime merchants from Japan, Malay, Ryukyu, Siam and other countries, becoming the most prosperous international trade center in the Far East. European chiming bells and firearms, pepper and spices from the Nanyang Islands, silk, cotton, porcelain and countless silver from Jiangnan converged and traded here.

In the more than 20 years since the rise of Shuangyu Port, although smuggling was serious, the Zhejiang Sea was quiet, and the maritime merchants were determined to make profits, not to rob their homes, and in order to protect the safety of trade, they often exterminated small groups of pirates. Lin Xiyuan, a famous eunuch in Quanzhou, once said fairly: "The Franc machine (referring to the Portuguese) is not a thief, and it is beneficial to our people." ”

However, this tranquility did not last long, and the flourishing trade of private traders in Shuangyu became increasingly intolerable to the imperial court. Finally, a bloody case became the fuse of the battle of Shuangyu Port - the Xie clan of the Yuyao clan relied on the smuggling of maritime merchants and refused to pay them, and threatened to report to the officials, but the maritime merchants couldn't swallow this breath, so they ransacked the Xie manor and plundered the Xie clan.

The Xie family's bloody case touched the sensitive nerves of the Ming Dynasty, and Emperor Jiajing sent a cadre Zhu Kun to suppress the "Japanese Kou". This official, who was born as a jinshi, has an upright personality and rich military experience, and is an iron-blooded maritime ban faction. Ordered in danger, he vowed to repay the emperor with all his wisdom and strength. After his arrival, he acted vigorously and resolutely, "reforming the ferry, strictly guarding the armor, searching for traitors", and cultivating a well-trained army. Subsequently, he subverted Shuangyu Port, and waved his army into Fujian, continued to chase and kill the fleeing maritime merchants, and won the victory of Zoumaxi after capturing Huyu in Fujian, capturing and killing more than 100 Chinese and Portuguese maritime merchants.

When Zhu Kun went to the island to survey after the war, he also found that the 40-mile-long Kuanping Ancient Road was not covered with grass, which showed that there were many people and goods coming and going, and because of the suddenness of the Shuangyu War, the open sea was unknown, so that in the month after the war, more than 1,290 merchant ships came to Hong Kong one after another, and the scale of its trade can be imagined.

After several great victories, Zhu Kun wrote with great ambition in the recital: "The whole Fujian coastal defense is a thousand miles away. ”

However, he did not expect that this short-lived victory was the last calm before the great turmoil, when the pocket of the sea ban became stricter and stricter, and the means became more and more brutal, the subverted maritime lair turned into a huge hornet's nest, and after being stabbed, thousands of "Japanese robbers" quickly poured out of nowhere, "hundreds of ships and hundreds of ships came to cover the sea", so that "thousands of miles of coastal water, and the alarm was warned at the same time", setting off a monstrous wave of Jiajing and the great Japanese invaders.

In fact, the truth of the Jiajing Waikou is a group of Chinese maritime merchants and pirates who oppose the sea ban. Looking through the historical materials of the anti-Japanese war during the Jiajing period, the Japanese among the leaders of the Japanese are extremely rare, and even if there are, they are insignificant low-level small leaders. Zheng Xiao, a squire of the Ming Dynasty's military department, said: "Most of the thieves are all Chinese, and the Japanese slaves are straight one-two." According to the recollection of a Kunshan man who was captive by the Japanese for more than 50 days: "There are about 200 people on the ship, and the so-called Japanese people with cones are only a dozen people." Not even a tenth, and according to historical records, the hairstyle of the Japanese is also likely to be a Japanese ronin posed by the Chinese.

And the most interesting thing is that these "Japanese pirates", who were characterized as invaders by the imperial court, have incredible folk support and integration of water and soil in the southeastern coastal areas -- the local people "let them pile up their goods and escort them for a little while", "or send fresh goods, or give wine and rice, or offer children, in an endless stream"; when the Japanese invaders go deep into the land, they are "familiar with the road", and even "work with the peasants in the Zhoushan Mountains", "or wear a hat and a hat, and drown in the fields, or walk in the clouds, wandering in the city"; Even the local officers and soldiers also joined forces with the Japanese and reported the military situation, "Guan Jin does not investigate or ask, and the thieves are clearly sent." All kinds of abnormalities caused the officials in charge of "suppressing the Japanese people" to exclaim, "He is handsome and has a division, and he is a coward outside of his body!" Except for high-ranking officials, all the other people are cowards. If it was indeed an invasion of foreign domains, it would be a desperate picture.

It can be seen that from the identity of the leader to the subordinate, from his familiarity with the place and his integration with the people, it can be seen that the so-called "Jiajing Da Kou Kou" is actually Chinese.

After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the coastal areas were overpopulated, coupled with serious land annexation and a large number of taxes, many peasants went bankrupt and could not make a living, so they went to the sea to do business. It can be said that the lucrative maritime trade, which is "ten times and a hundred times the interest", is an important economic pillar of the southeast coast, and not only the common people make a living from it, but also many wealthy families are actively investing. Therefore, during the more than 20 years of the prosperity of Shuangyu Port, the sea area of Zhoushan was calm and calm, and there were few records of "rebellion". After the collapse of Shuangyu Port, many "maritime merchants" and their subordinates who had lost their vitality had no choice but to turn to looting for a living, and merchants turned into thieves.

Xie Jie once pointed out sharply in "Qiantai Wa Compilation": "Kou and Shang are the same people, the general rule of the city is that Kou becomes a businessman, and the city prohibits the business into a business." Tang Shu, a frontier political commentator at the Jiajing period, pointed out with insight: "It is not the Japanese who dare to commit crimes against China, but China itself as a coward." ”

This also reasonably explains the tragedy of Zhu Kun - he subverted Shuangyu Port, cut off the livelihood of ordinary people and the wealth of wealthy families, and soon encountered the siege and impeachment of the powerful people in Fujian and Zhejiang. He refused to accept the upcoming interrogation and insults, and left his last words that "if the Son of Heaven does not want to kill me, the people of Fujian and Zhejiang will kill me", he committed suicide by poisoning.

After the Battle of Shuangyu Port, the smuggling and maritime merchants split into the mutual market faction that advocated trade and the raiding faction that took risks. The former is the Wang Zhi group that inherits the tradition of Shuangyu Port, and the latter is Lin Bichuan, Xiao Xian, Xu Hai and other groups.

Wang Zhi, a native of Huizhou, his surname is Wang. In the early days, he was just a subordinate of the Xu brothers, and after the Battle of Shuangyu Port, Wang Zhi collected the remnants of the party and transferred to Zhoushan Liegang (Ligang) to reinvigorate his power. He had read books, was strategic, and had advanced thoughts, understanding that the sea could enrich the country and enrich the people, and his greatest dream was that the imperial court could change the national policy and trade with each other. And since Wang Zhi, who was falsely accused of being the "King of the Japanese Invaders" by the Ming Dynasty, was booby-trapped, there were no more maritime merchants in Zhejiang.

Banning the sea and exterminating maritime merchants actually made the Ming Dynasty miss the Age of Discovery.

And Wu Ping, the king of the sea dragon, like Wang Zhi and other so-called pirates and pirates, is just a group of maritime merchants who are forced by officials to rebel against the people, Wu Haiping has hatred for the Ming Dynasty because his father was killed, and fled to Liaodong to take revenge on the power of the Jurchens, which is understandable in Gao Jie's heart. Therefore, he has more pity and sigh for Wu Haiping.

The first time Wu Haiping heard such an evaluation of his father from the mouth of the Ming people, he was immediately stunned on the spot, and his heart was full of mixed feelings.

After a long time, he said in a trembling voice: "Thank you!"

Gao Jie was puzzled: "What did the seniors thank me for?"

Wu Haiping smiled miserably and said: "Before Wu died, I could still hear such a fair evaluation of my father, and I would have no regrets about my death! I would like to express my gratitude to your Excellency on behalf of my father and the fishermen who died together in Fujian and Guangdong!"

Gao Jie waved his hand again and again and said: "I can't help it, I can't help it, the younger generation is just telling the truth! All this, the future generations have their own public opinions, and the rights and wrongs will always be revealed to the world one day!"

Wu Haiping's heart was surging when he heard it, and he couldn't help himself, and he choked up with tears on his pale face.

Gao Jie's heart softened, and he couldn't help but say: "The senior is seriously injured now, don't get excited, it's better to hurry up and recuperate carefully!"

Wu Haiping cleaned up his mood, coughed violently and said: "The old man's injury is no longer curable, what is the difference between raising it and not raising it! Xiaoyou, you go and light the torch, and then come over to do the old man a favor, okay?"

Gao Jie witnessed the whole process of Wu Haiping's injury and poisoning in the dark, and knew that what he said was true, but the death of Master Donglutu made him have to worry about this dying, treacherous old man, hesitated again and again, he took a deep breath, went to pick up the torch left by the deed, and slowly walked to Wu Haiping's bed with full vigilance.

Under the reflection of the torches, Wu Haiping's face was pale and hideous, and the front of his clothes was full of stains of blood that had been spit out before, and the whole person was distributed, which made people's hearts palpitate like a ghost. The most terrifying thing is that his hands and neck, countless black lines are dense, and it is the poison that spreads after being bitten by the golden snake. Although Wu Haiping tried his best to cut off part of his blood veins to prevent the spread of the poison the moment he was bitten, at this moment, Gao Jie could clearly see that the black line on his neck was still slowly ascending and had reached the lower jaw, as he said, it was basically hopeless.

Gao Jie lit a torch, stared at Wu Haiping with complicated eyes and said, "What do the seniors command, the juniors do their best!"

Wu Haiping looked at Gao Jie, who was masked in a black scarf, and said, "Listen to your voice, you shouldn't be too old, right?" If you can hide it from the old man and Donglutu before, it can be seen that your martial arts are extraordinary!"

Gao Jie said: "Seniors, don't praise me, juniors feel panicked!"

Wu Haiping laughed, spurted out another mouthful of blood, and only after a while did he breathe, and said weakly: "Don't worry, I will never want to treat you like Master Donglutu! He covets treasures, so he naturally deserves to die, but you saved my life, although the old man is ruthless, he will not poison his benefactor!"

Where did Gao Jie believe it, but he said: "That's good, that's good!"

Wu Haiping saw Gao Jie's appearance and said with a wry smile: "You are wary of the old man, which is understandable. Xiaoyou is kind at heart, the old man has a secret to tell you, and I am afraid that the injury will be too serious to support until I finish speaking, please Xiaoyou take out a vermilion pill from my arms first, let me slow down the injury, okay?"

When Gao Jie heard this, he became more vigilant and said, "Senior... If you just take it out yourself, why do you need the juniors to do it? Besides, the juniors are not interested in the secret you have to tell at all! You don't have to tell me!"

Wu Haiping shook his head and said, "I naturally know that you are not here for that secret, nor are you moved by the desire for treasures. But whether to say it or not is my business, and whether to listen or not is your business, right? You asked me to help me get the medicine because my arm has long been eroded by snake venom, and I am completely unconscious, and I can't move!"

Gao Jie looked at his black hands, sighed and said, "Okay!" After speaking, he stretched out his hand tremblingly, touched it in Wu Haiping's arms for a while, took out a small cloth bag, and then according to his instructions, took out a red vial from the cloth bag, and fed it a vermilion pill everywhere.

After Wu Haiping took the pill, he closed his eyes and breathed for a moment before he opened his eyes and said, "Yes, Xie Xiaoyou! Now, you find a small white jade bottle in the cloth bag!"

Gao Jie found the white jade bottle and prepared to hand it to Wu Haiping. Wu Haiping shook his head and said, "This is not what I want, but it is given to you!"

Gao Jie was puzzled: "Why do you want to give me something?"

Wu Haiping said: "You saved me before, and I can meet you before I die, it can be regarded as a fate between the two of us! The biggest secret of the old man is the treasure map carved on this jade bottle, Nurhachi has always coveted this, but I didn't expect me to give it to Xiaoyou!"

Gao Jie said: "The secret of the treasure, you should leave it to your descendants or apprentices, I will not be punished!"

Wu Haiping said: "I have no heirs in this life, as for the apprentice, the most promising one is Li Yongfang, but after all, he is working hard for Nurhachi, isn't it left to him to the Jurchens? !