It seems correct, but actually it is wrong.

The proud Zhang Jing did not expect that in this seemingly seamless response, there were two small omissions: he did not really understand the complaint letter, and more importantly, he underestimated Zhao Shilang's

level.

As a main member of the Strict Party, Zhao Wenhua is not a simple person. In fact, Zhang Jing's upcoming military action had been expected by him, but he still dared to submit a letter at this time because he had already expected that this letter would

First, if Zhang Jing is not victorious, he still has a way to survive; if he is victorious, he will definitely die!

In May of the 34th year of Jiajing (1555), the Japanese pirates who were short of money could not bear their loneliness and began to invade Jiaxing on a large scale, but fell into a trap.

The opportunity Zhang Jing had been waiting for for a long time finally arrived. He immediately mobilized his troops to advance by land and water, encountered the enemy at Wangjiangjing, defeated the Japanese pirates, and killed more than 1,900 enemies. It is known in history as the "Great Victory at Wangjiangjing".

This was the biggest victory in the Southeast since the Japanese Rebellion. Zhang Jing was so proud that he immediately wrote a letter of victory and sent it to the capital, waiting for a reward from the court.

Facts have proved that the efficiency of the court's work this time was quite high. It didn't take long for Zhang Jing to receive the reward he deserved. It was not gold and silver treasures, high officials and generous salaries, but two people, specifically two royal guards.

The meeting gift they gave Governor Zhang was a pair of shining shackles, and then loudly conveyed the Emperor's congratulatory message:

"Jing (Zhang Jing) deceived Dan and was unfaithful, so he was ordered to go to Beijing to investigate!"

Zhang Jing's head is a little confused. He obviously won the battle, so why did he become "deceitful and disloyal"?

Governor Zhang was confused because he did not know the mystery of Zhao Wenhua's letter.

When Jiajing first saw this black material, he didn't care at first, until he handed it to the person next to him - Yan Song.

Yan Song naturally understood Zhao's son's intention, and immediately showed off his acting skills. He looked thoughtful for a long time, then suddenly put on an expression of concern for the country and the people, and began to denounce the tragic situation of Japanese pirates harming the people, and finally pointed out the theme - supporting soldiers and self-respect.

, sitting back and watching the Japanese chaos was all caused by Zhang Jing.

Jiajing was angry, and the consequences were serious. He immediately ordered Zhang Jing to be arrested and returned to Beijing.

Shortly after the order was issued, Zhang Jing's victory document was delivered. It seemed that Zhang Jing was about to pass the test, but just as Zhao Wenhua expected, Jiajing made a very heartless judgment:

"Zhang Jing is really hateful. After hearing Wenhua's impeachment, Fang Yi will fight!"

Comrade Jiajing, who had been in the world for more than 30 years, was finished like this. After years of tempering, his temper, personality and various political tricks had long been clearly understood by the strict party, and now he can only be played without discussion.

Zhang Jing fell, and Li Tianchong had no chance. The two brothers went to the execution ground hand in hand and were killed together.

Zhao Wenhua fulfilled his promise. Shortly after Li Tianchong's death, he used his connections in the court to break the rules again and again. In just one month, he directly promoted Hu Zongxian, the seventh-rank grassroots censor, to the fourth-rank right Qiandu censor.

Governor of Zhejiang. From Zhizhiguan to feudal official, his promotion speed is comparable to that of a Scud missile.

Zhao Wenhua admired Hu Zongxian very much because of Hu Zongxian's outstanding ability and support in adversity. But Hu Zongxian did not like Zhao Wenhua, because in his eyes, Zhao Wenhua was really nothing.

Hu Zongxian was a man with an unusual background. He was born into a wealthy and distinguished family. Sixty years ago, his great-grandfather Hu Fu passed the Jinshi examination and served as a ministerial-level cadre - the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing. He was very prominent for a while.

Hu Zongxian, who came from a distinguished family, was a genius. He passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty-two and became a Jinshi at the age of twenty-six. Whether in the local area or in the army, whether in handling government affairs or quelling rebellions, he showed extraordinary talents.

Having been involved in politics for many years, Hu Zongxian knew very well what kind of people Zhao Wenhua and his godfather were. These people did not do enough work and were good at punishing people. They were really a bunch of rubbish.

However, the problem is that the power of the country is in the hands of this group of rubbish. Those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish. Hu Zongxian is not an idealist, he is very realistic.

So when the unlearned Zhao Wenhua came to Zhejiang, and when Zhang Jing and Li Tianchong both scorned him, he realized the opportunities contained therein.

So he approached Zhao Wenhua, welcomed his arrival, ignored the contempt and comments of others, paid him a visit, curry favor with him, and patiently listened to his boasting with a flattering smile, even though he knew very well that the spitting person in front of him was

He is just a combination of a villain and an idiot.

For Hu Zongxian, who was born in a noble family and had a strong sense of morality, this was an extremely disgusting entertainment, but he still performed hard.

Because in his heart, he has the mission of serving the country and the responsibility of rescuing the people, because before he accepted the edict and went to Zhejiang, he made such an oath:

"I'm going to Zhejiang. If I don't fight against the Japanese pirates and I don't decide the southeast, I swear I won't return to Beijing!"

legendary master

Hu Zongxian watched helplessly as Zhang Jing and Li Tianchong were framed and executed, and then sat on the throne of Zhejiang governor amidst the accusations of everyone, without any shyness or shame.

On the contrary, he was very proud, feared by everyone, and the powerful Yan Dang, turned out to be so stupid. Zhao Wenhua and Yan Song were played by him, used by him, and paved the way for him. After that,

This most powerful political group will be his backing to help him realize his ideals.

He always has a clear conscience.

Because all the efforts he made were not just for his own glory and wealth, but because his ideal was to serve the country and save the people.

In Hu Zongxian's view, Zhang Jing did not do a good enough job. Although he mobilized powerful wolf soldiers, reorganized the armament, and raised food and wages, he was always a little slow in terms of overall planning and combat timing. In the end,

Only then will Zhao Wenhua have an opportunity to take advantage of it.

All in all, this is a hard-working person, but lacks talent.

Hu Zongxian believed that he was talented, so he took over the job of his predecessor without hesitation. He believed that he could do a better job than Zhang Jing.

Although everyone in the world felt sorry for Zhang Jing's innocent murder at that time, for the Japanese pirates, Zhang Jing's death was an outright tragedy because facts proved that his successor Hu Zongxian was a more terrifying enemy.

.

Of course, this happened later.

Hu Zongxian, who had just taken office, finally realized the first step of his dream, but before he could take a breath, an accident happened and woke him up from his dream.

It should be said that Zhang Jing was not the only fierce man. Cao Bangfu, the governor of Su Song, was also of the same kind. After the great victory at Wangjiangjing, he recruited his troops and defeated the Japanese pirates again. Due to personnel changes, this operation was not approved by his superiors. When Zhao Wenhua found out,

, all the prisoners were brought back.

Zhao Wenhua, deeply feeling the loss of face, immediately gave Hu Zongxian an order to pursue and annihilate the remaining enemies immediately.

This was an opportunity that Hu Zongxian had been waiting for for a long time. He immediately mobilized four thousand elite troops and launched a pursuit. Then he sat at home, waiting for the news to come.

Soon, he got the battle report as he wished, which was concise and concise: a disastrous defeat! Urgent help!

The losses in this battle were extremely heavy. The so-called "more than a thousand Zongxian soldiers died", a total of 4,000 people, almost half of whom were killed. Hu Zongxian, who was greatly surprised, hurriedly ordered deputy general Liu Tao to lead the army for reinforcements. Soon after, the battle report came again - Fu

Big defeat.

This was not the worst result. The Japanese pirates, whose morale was boosted, actually turned around and attacked the eastern Zhejiang area again, plundering the area and then fled away.

The painful failure taught Hu Zongxian, and he finally realized that the Japanese pirate rebellion was much more severe than he imagined, and that there seemed to be extremely powerful power hidden in these bandits.

Hu Zongxian's general judgment was correct, but he did not know clearly that if the Japanese pirates were bandits, then they were the most terrifying bandits in history, because many of them were martial arts masters who were proficient in sword skills.

In historical data, there is such a well-known battle record:

In the thirty-fourth year of Jiajing (1555), more than forty Japanese pirates entered the country from Pinghu, Zhejiang, and marched toward Hangzhou. After looting, they fled to Chun'an. This was originally just a robbery incident, and the robbery was nothing serious. But this

I don’t know if I didn’t have a guide, but after traveling for more than half a month, I ended up in South Zhili (today’s Jiangsu area). I grabbed a handful near Changzhou and Suzhou, and ended up at the foot of Nanjing City!

Finally, after being rounded up by a large army, this group of petty thieves were finally annihilated. It is said that more than 3,000 civilian soldiers were killed and wounded by them at that time.

More than 40 people wandered around under the eyes of the Ming Empire for more than a month, grabbing whatever they wanted. Hundreds of thousands of garrison troops were helpless. This was not a simple robbery, nor a simple military operation, but a serious political incident.

!

Forty people would dare to go to Nanjing for a self-guided tour. If there were 4,000 people, they might even dare to go to Beijing to raise funds to build houses (they would not be able to defeat real estate developers).

This story has always been used to illustrate the decay and lack of combat effectiveness of the Ming army, but many people do not know that behind it, there is a thrilling truth hidden.

This was an extraordinary robbery, because the more than 40 Japanese pirates who participated in the robbery were not ordinary people, they were ronin.

The so-called ronin are Japanese samurai who lost their land. I won’t say much about the samurai group, but many people may not know that samurai are a very rare species even in Japan.

During the Warring States Period in Japan, the nominal supreme ruler was the emperor, and the actual controllers were the major princes, also known as daimyo, and the samurai were subordinates of the daimyo. Even the great princes such as Oda Nobunaga, their subordinates

There are only one or two thousand warriors.

As members of the samurai group, they have received strict martial arts and physical training since childhood. Most of them practice swordsmanship and have developed the skills to kill people. Even if they participate in the underworld and use watermelon knives to slash at each other, it is estimated that one person can defeat five people.

Six is ​​no problem.

What's even more frightening is that some of them have also practiced "Yinliu", which is a unique skill in Japanese swordsmanship, passed down from Japan's top master "Sword Master" Ueizumi Nobutsuna.

Although there are not many people who practice this kung fu, and not all of them are sword masters, they can be regarded as first-class masters. They were also among the Japanese who came to China to plunder at that time.

Evidence shows that in this incident in the 34th year of Jiajing, the more than 40 criminals who participated in the robbery were not Japanese farmers who ran away from home. They were almost all samurai who lost their land after defeat and could not find jobs.

And the evidence is the special weapon they carry with them.

In fact, those robbers called Japanese pirates are a veritable multinational force. In addition to the Japanese, there are also Spanish, Portuguese, fishermen along the coast of China, pirates, etc. In short, everyone is for the same goal (to make a fortune)

) came together.

The weapons used by these people are also varied. Spanish and Portuguese foreigners generally use muskets or swords. Fishermen and pirates have no fixed equipment and use whatever they catch.

But the reason why this unorganized and undisciplined miscellaneous force has strong combat effectiveness is because it contains a group of tenacious Japanese samurai and ronin. No matter where they fight or who they fight, they will use the same weapon——

Samurai sword.

No matter in China or Japan, only samurai or ronoi are equipped with samurai swords. In fact, there is no special certification agency to control who can and cannot carry samurai swords. The real reason is that such controlled knives are very expensive.

The production of samurai swords is very complicated. It requires the use of many different iron and steel materials, which are then heated by fire and hammered vigorously by craftsmen. It can be said that it is thousands of times of hard work and time-consuming. It is purely handmade and never mass-produced.

Because this knife is well made and has a reasonable proportion of iron and steel, it has both toughness and hardness. It is quite effective whether it is used to chop wood or chop people.

But owning a samurai sword is not necessarily a good thing, because even if you can afford it, you may not be able to keep it. Since the sword is made of iron-steel alloy and is prone to rust, it must be taken good care of and must be taken out every now and then.

Finding someone to sharpen the knife (using a special whetstone is very expensive) and wiping the knife with oil every day (it is said that vegetable oil must be used) is more troublesome than applying engine oil.

It’s such a thing, not to mention it’s expensive, it needs to be maintained every day, and it’s harder to service than an old man. No one except those stubborn Japanese samurai are willing to mess with this thing. Not only that, these grandsons value their swords more than their lives.

Also, after Japan's defeat in 1945, many officers with samurai backgrounds in the Japanese invaders applied to the Chinese side, hoping to take away their family heirloom swords, saying that if they were not allowed, they would commit seppuku.
To be continued...