The Nan'ao Commander-in-Chief's Office stood on an island not far from Shantou, overseeing naval affairs in Southern Fujian, Taiwan, and the eastern Guangdong seas. Within its grounds stood a great banyan tree. It was said that Zheng Chenggong had recruited soldiers beneath this tree to recover Taiwan, and so it was called the "Recruiting Tree." Beside it stood a stone stele bearing the three characters "Fujian-Guangdong Border." The men who had fired cannons from the southern battery and driven off the pirates had been subordinates of the Nan'ao commander-in-chief.
Passing this island meant entering Fujian. At the same time, the Admiral received good news from the Nan'ao commander-in-chief: Fujian waters were not plagued by rampant piracy. The pirates who had attacked their convoy had likely come from the South China Sea. In order to wipe out Zheng Chenggong and the Southern Ming forces, the Qing government had strengthened the defenses along Fujian's coast. Pirates did not dare come here, while Japanese pirates had become rare as early as the beginning of the Qing dynasty.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Sword Hunt Edict prevented peasants from owning weapons. Even when peasant uprisings broke out, they had nothing but sickles and hoes.
Stopping a palanquin to file a lawsuit was a form of litigation. Peasants would block the palanquins of senior councillors, magistrates, or domain lords to submit petitions. This method could only be used after direct appeals to the various lords had been rejected. For peasants, rebellion was a desperate gamble with their lives, one they could only make once. That was why peasant uprisings possessed a fervor and madness unlike ordinary times. If there were other channels through which they could obtain justice, they were willing to try them.
During the Kan'ei Famine, some daimyo not only failed to provide disaster relief but