Traitor? Pirate?

To be honest, the reason why the Japanese became the main force of the Japanese pirate army is not because of their superior IQ, but because they are single-minded, are not afraid of death in battles, and always rush to the front. This is the so-called ease of use.

And strong.

According to historical records, this group of Japanese robbers who came from afar basically did not know the way and their brains were not very good. If they were allowed to wander ashore by themselves, they might be sold by human traffickers.

In fact, the Japanese have been making a living on the coast of China since the time of Zhu Yuanzhang. However, for more than two hundred years, there has been no big trouble. During the Jiajing period, the Japanese pirates were so large, organized and undisciplined.

, I really have to thank two dear brothers, one is named Wang Zhi, the other is named Xu Hai.

Wang Zhi is the name in the history of the Ming Dynasty. Most other history books call him Wang Zhi. It just so happens that this brother is Hu Zongxian's fellow villager. He is also from Huizhou. To talk about the legendary experience of this brother, it is really three days and three days.

I can't finish talking all night long.

In many history books, Wang Zhi is roughly defined as follows: he was cunning and sneaky by nature, and then wandered to Japan, colluded with Japanese pirates, and led the way for the Japanese to invade China. He was a heinous traitor.

This is indeed a very striking and exciting conclusion, but in my opinion, it is very likely to be wrong.

And at least I can be sure of one thing: Wang Zhi is not a traitor.

Here is a special statement: I am not a person who reverses the verdict, and I have no intention to develop in this direction. I draw this conclusion only because Wang Zhi does not meet the definition of a traitor.

What is a traitor? During the Jiajing period, the so-called traitor was a person who worked for Japanese pirates.

According to this standard, Wang Zhi is really not qualified, because this brother did not work for the Japanese. On the contrary, the Japanese worked for him.

Wang Zhi, nicknamed Wufeng, in fact, the beginning of all the legendary turmoil was just because of a business.

As Hu Zongxian's strongest opponent, Wang Zhi has been a very smart person since he was a child, but unfortunately, his intelligence is not in reading.

Wang Zhi's head seemed to have difficulty accepting the signals from the Four Books and Five Classics. Reading was a kind of torture for him, so he was clever and quickly found another way out for himself - doing business.

Most people start small when doing business. They first set up street stalls and open grocery stores, and then slowly they can sell steel and sell arms. However, Wang Zhi is very different. From an economic point of view, the starting point of Boss Wang’s business is

Quite high - international trade.

The so-called international trade, to put it bluntly, means selling domestic goods abroad and then returning them. Wang Zhi knew very well that it was difficult to make a fortune selling cigarettes on the streets. Only entrepot trade could make one rich. In the Ming Dynasty, maritime trade was expressly prohibited.

, the so-called "nothing should be allowed to enter the sea" is no joke if caught, but history has proven countless times that economic laws cannot be defeated with sticks, and the will and determination to make a fortune cannot be stopped.

Wang Zhi was one of the early initiators of going to sea. He found a partner named Xu Weixue and persuaded him to go out to do business together. This Xu Weixue was not a kind person either. He had been a bandit for several years in his early years.

ocean.

Wang Zhi's first trade was in Guangdong. He quietly went to sea late one night with his goods and sailed farther south.

In today's Southeast Asia, Wang Zhi sold his goods at extremely different prices. When huge profits flowed into his pocket, he felt unprecedented excitement.

So he made up his mind to risk everything he had to see this business through to the end.

As the business continued, Wang Zhi's fleet became larger and larger, with more and more subordinates, and profits became more and more abundant. Boss Wang finally succeeded in becoming rich and became an example for others to imitate.

If the matter stops here, it shouldn't be too bad. Wang Zhi's behavior should be considered smuggling according to the legal definition, and the worst result is nothing more than being a big star and attracting attention, being targeted by the provincial governor and customs director Hu Zongxian, and then smuggling on a certain occasion

He was caught by Yu Dayou, the captain of the anti-smuggling brigade, and was later sentenced to exile or beheaded.

But Boss Wang's desire cannot be satisfied, and giving up when things get better is by no means his life creed. Soon after, he finally made a choice that changed the lives of many people.

The business potential in Southeast Asia is no longer great. In order to obtain more profits, Boss Wang decided to turn to the Japanese market. The reason is simple - Japanese people make good money.

Geographically speaking, Japan is really a place where birds lay eggs. Apart from volcanoes and earthquakes, almost everything is lacking. Wang Zhi trafficked goods here and charged as high a price as he wanted. This is the only one, so I will buy it if you like.

.

In addition to improving Japan's living standards, Boss Wang also made outstanding contributions to reducing Japan's population, because while providing daily items, he also smuggled a very special kind of goods.

In fact, this kind of goods is no stranger to everyone. In the ranking of national trade goods, it has always ranked first in the rankings for the past few hundred years - arms.

In the Southeast Asian trade, Wang Zhi and the Portuguese became close friends. The Portuguese foreigners liked Chinese porcelain and tea, but they had no money in their pockets, so they had to exchange guns for fear that Wang Zhi would not accept them, so the prices were cheap, which was considered a semi-finished business.

Sell ​​half free.

Wang Zhi gave full play to his true nature as a profiteer. He acted extremely embarrassed every time and often said he would not do the same thing again. As a result, as soon as they changed hands, he sent them to Japan for ten times the price.

Don't say ten times, let's say a hundred times. I guess the Japanese bought it right away. It was the Warring States Period, and they had a lot of fun fighting each other. They were tired of using swords and spears, so everyone started playing with guns.

Already.

In Wang Zhi's order list, princes such as Shimadzu and Oda are all big customers. Boss Wang is quite trustworthy and sometimes goes to investigate the damage caused by war to ensure after-sales service.

Of course, there were some disharmonious episodes during the trade. Southeast Asia and the coast of Zhejiang have always been gathering places for pirates. Wang Zhi’s fleet was often robbed because the target was too large. Boss Wang was very angry: I am lucky.

Arms, how dare you rob me?!

In anger, he organized a private armed force, which was just a convoy at first. Later, he found that piracy made money faster, so he simply became a pirate part-time. In this way, Wang Zhi changed from an overseas gold digger to a maritime businessman.

He also became the leader of an armed smuggling group.

However, this is far from the end. With the continuous expansion of business, Wang's Overseas Trading Co., Ltd. and Pirates Unlimited Group urgently need to find a fixed office space. Of course, difficulties exist. Although Mr. Jiajing is busy practicing Taoism, he will never allow Wang

The boss opens an office under his nose.

For the long-term development of the company, Wang Zhi decided to move the head office to Japan. The specific location was in southern Kyushu, Japan (near today's Okinawa, Japan). He occupied a place there as his base.

Boss Wang's business is very big. Not only does he have a large fleet and private armed forces, but he also has an imperial addiction. Within his jurisdiction, there are more than 4,000 Chinese immigrants living under his management. He also employs

There are many Japanese people looking for jobs. Those who are in good health work as bodyguards or thugs, while those who are in poor health are assigned to sweep the streets and do their bidding.

Wang Zhi was very satisfied with the company's development and named his private land - "Song Country".

It must be noted that Boss Wang opened a company in Japan without permission from the authorities, nor was it registered with the relevant departments. He has not paid a penny in taxes for many years since its establishment. To put it more seriously, this is an illegal occupation of another country's territory.

It is a bold provocation to national dignity.

But from beginning to end, the Japanese didn't even dare to fart. The reason is very simple, they didn't dare.

In Japanese history books, the Warring States Period is described as an era in which heroes emerged in large numbers. Countless brave men ran rampant among thousands of armies, which was truly spectacular.

But the actual situation may not be like this. For example, in the famous Battle of Okehazama in Japanese history, the great prince Imagawa Yoshimoto, who shocked Japan and was said to be unstoppable, had only 40,000 to 50,000 troops, that's all.

.

At that time, the total number of the two parties in the general battle was only five or six thousand, and they were placed in China. This was just a guard of honor. But it is no wonder that the Japanese comrades, after all, the population is limited, and it is too difficult to organize a large-scale battle.

To put it bluntly, it is not easy to kill thousands of people in battle.

The reason why Boss Wang was so arrogant was because he bullied the Japanese. At that time, his army numbered nearly 10,000, and they were all equipped with the latest muskets. The people in the Kyushu region where he was located were fierce and the princes were very warlike. However, Wang Zhi was

They had no scruples about them, and often sent thousands of people with foreign guns and warships to parade past their shores. This group of people didn't even dare to say a word, let alone confront them with force.

On the contrary, they were very polite to Wang Zhi, and even gave him gifts during holidays, for fear of offending this rich man with guns.

To be fair, Wang Zhi is indeed not a traitor, because

It is estimated that no one in Japan can afford a traitor like him, but there are many Japanese who beg him eagerly and rely on him for a living.

This is Wang Zhi, this is the number one opponent Hu Zongxian is about to face, an opponent far more terrifying than any Japanese kendo master.

Relatively speaking, the number two figure is less powerful, but he is more legendary than Wang Zhi - because of a woman.

Xu Hai, a native of Huizhou, was Hu Zongxian’s second most powerful enemy.

It's a coincidence that he is also from Huizhou. God is very fair. Whoever causes the trouble will clean up the trouble. The final battle will be between these three Huizhou people, and there can only be one winner.

Wang Zhi is not a traitor, but Xu Hai is a traitor, a real traitor.

Xu Hai's nickname is Pujing. This title looks very much like a monk's Buddhist title, but in fact, it is indeed a monk's Buddhist title.

When he was a boy, Xu Hai used to be a monk in a temple in Hangzhou, ringing bells and chanting sutras every day, and living a peaceful life. However, one day, his uncle came and told him that he had found a promising job and was still working hard.

There is a very reliable friend as a partner. As long as you participate, the management will have a bright future and you will have no worries about food and clothing.

Xu Hai thought about it for a long time and finally accepted his uncle's invitation and left the temple to do this promising job.

It should be said that this invitation was not entirely a lie. This job did allow him to live comfortably, and to a certain extent, it could also be said that he had a bright future.

But the problem is that his uncle's name is Xu Weixue, that very reliable friend is named Wang Zhi, and that promising job is naturally smuggling.

Xu Hai just got into the water and started running boats with Boss Wang. As the business grew bigger and bigger, his income increased and he became more and more skilled in related businesses (shipping, robbery). If nothing unexpected happens, he

It is very likely that he will become the smuggling leader under Wang Zhi, and there are only two endings: either save some money, go home, buy a house and marry a wife; or keep working until he is caught or beaten to death.

But the hand of fate pushed him to the third path, a more bizarre path.

Xu Weixue was originally Wang Zhi's partner. The two parties cooperated happily at first, but gradually, the brother became dissatisfied. Although the two went into business together, Wang Zhi's ability exceeded him, the business was bigger than him, and the profits were higher than his.

After much thought, Xu Weixue decided to go out and work alone.

To work alone, you need capital. Boss Xu didn't have enough money, so he looked for people to borrow money, and the creditor of the largest loan happened to be a Japanese pirate. With money, Boss Xu started to engage in smuggling and piracy, but the facts proved that

, he ignored an important economic issue: any activity with a commercial nature is risky, and smuggling and piracy are no exception.

Xu Weixue was not very lucky. His fleet often encountered storms and Ming troops, and he lost all his money several times. He needed money to buy smuggled goods, and his robbers also had to receive wages. In addition, Japanese pirates pressed for payment, and Xu Weixue was in dire straits.

If you can't pay back the money you owe to the bank, you'll be jailed at most, but if you can't pay back the money you owe the Japanese pirates, it's not that simple. That's something you paid for with your life, and it's never allowed to turn into a bad debt. But Xu Weixue's family property has been sold out.

, and had nothing to pledge, so in desperation, he did a very unethical thing - mortgaging his nephew.

In Uncle Xu's view, his nephew was considered his property. In this way, Xu Hai became the property hostage of the Japanese pirates.

At this time, Xu Hai didn't take it seriously, thinking that it was just a matter of eating a few more Japanese dishes, and his uncle would redeem him soon. However, something unexpected happened.

Xu Weixue really had no business life. After returning, he not only failed to recover his money, but also lost more money. In the end, he lost his life due to a debt dispute.

When the news reached Xu Hai's ears, facing the furious Japanese pirates who lost all their money, he did not panic and calmly saved himself with one sentence:

"Leave my life and I will work with you."

Anyway, the money was gone. In order not to lose both people and money, Xu Hai became a member of the Japanese pirates. Of course, in the eyes of the Japanese, they were just one more person to serve tea and pour water.

However, this is not the case. Xu Hai's energy far exceeds their imagination.

In essence, Wang Zhi is a first-rate businessman and a second-rate pirate. In layman's terms, what he is best at is economics, and then military. But Xu Hai is just the opposite. Before he became a successful businessman, he was a

Military genius.

Xu Hai had no education and was considered self-taught. He had amazing talents, great organizational skills, and was very good at maritime warfare. Compared with those brainless Japanese pirates, he was really too outstanding, so it didn't take long for him to
To be continued...