Kinmen Gathering

Wang Cuiqiao said, "I also know what happened to Wang Zhi. He was too arrogant. At that time, the imperial edict of amnesty and pardon had not yet been issued, but he dared to go ashore, thinking that the court would not kill him. In the end, he miscalculated."

Xu Hai said, "This time, it's Hu Zongxian's trying to offer amnesty again. If I remember correctly, it was him who offered amnesty to Wang Zhi Wang Zhi time. What, trying to pull the same trick twice? Only a fool would fall for it."

Wang Cuiqiao said, "Governor Hu also answered the question about the cause of Wang Zhi's death in his letter. It was not Governor Hu's original intention to Trapping Wang Bengu Wang Zhi into an ambush, but rather the arbitrary actions of Governor Wang Bengu. In order to gain credit, he preemptively reported Wang Zhi's arrest to the emperor and strongly advocated for the death penalty. As a result, there was a great deal of discussion in the court and among the people. The emperor, unaware of the true situation, issued an edict to kill Wang Zhi."

Should Wang Zhi have been killed?

In terms of guilt, even ten heads wouldn't be enough to punish Wang Zhi. He violated the maritime ban by smuggling, declared himself king, and committed arson, murder, and looting...

However, given the circumstances at the time, from a purely self-interested perspective, killing Wang Zhi was not the right thing to do.

Before his death, Wang Zhi said, "If I die, the people of Zhejiang and Jiangsu will suffer." Although he said this not out of compassion for the people, but simply to save his own life, his words were true. After Wang Zhi's death, the Wokou Pirates, who had been under his unified control, lost their leader, and various "heroes" rose up. Soon, "new Japanese pirates returned in great numbers," and Fujian and Guangdong became the hardest-hit areas by the Wokou Pirates.

Therefore, after Wang Zhi's death, some people said that if Wang Zhi had been spared and allowed to control the Wokou Pirates at sea, the imperial court would not have needed to spend huge amounts of military resources to defend the southeast coast, and might have even gained a powerful navy.

Some analysts believe that there were deeper reasons for killing Wang Zhi. The scholar-officials from Jiangnan in the Ming Dynasty, and the powerful families who colluded with smugglers and pirates, may not have wanted to see a powerful navy in the hands of the emperor. Therefore, they echoed Wang Bengu's words and strongly requested that Wang Zhi be executed. This is the essence of the "stormy discussions in the court and among the people".

The Jiajing Emperor wasn't stupid; he was simply a devout Daoism who neglected state affairs. He was momentarily blinded by Wang Bengu's seemingly righteous and impassioned memorial, which led him to execute Wang Zhi. After realizing his mistake, he didn't promote Wang Bengu...

In short, the execution of Wang Zhi exacerbated the chaos caused by the Wokou Pirates; this is an indisputable fact, and anyone with discerning eyes can see it.

Xu Hai said, "Even if it wasn't Hu Zongxian's original intention, Wang Zhi still died in the end. How do you know that if I accept the amnesty, I won't become a second Wang Zhi?"

Wang Cuiqiao said, "Therefore, when I contacted Governor Hu, I emphasized that we needed the Emperor to issue a pardon. Ming Shan, the Emperor's word is law, and he will not fool ordinary people like us. As long as we have the pardon, we will definitely be able to return to our hometown of Jiaxing and live out the rest of our lives in peace."

Xu Hai sneered, "How easy is it to obtain an imperial pardon? I, Hu, have always been wise to protect myself. Would I really take on such a big responsibility?"

Wang Cuiqiao thought for a moment, then took out Hu Zongxian's secret letter from her sleeve and handed it to Xu Hai.

Xu Hai paused slightly, then flipped through the letters.

"He wants me to kill Chen Dong Ye Ma?"

Wang Cuiqiao said, "Ming Shan, this is a good opportunity. Pirate activity is frequent now, and Governor Hu is under a lot of pressure. He probably really wants to recruit you and then use your strength to assist the government troops in suppressing other pirate forces."

If the Anti-Wokou Ming Army was already a foregone conclusion, and only a few small groups of Wokou Pirates remained along the southeastern coast, then accepting amnesty would be very risky; whether to kill them or not would be entirely up to the court.

However, now that the Anti-Wokou Ming Army and the Wokou Pirates are strong, the danger of the Wokou Pirates accepting amnesty is much smaller. The court also wants to keep Xu Hai alive to fight other Wokou Pirates.

This was Wang Cuiqiao's idea, and it can't be said to be wrong.

Xu Hai realized this, his expression softened slightly, and he paced back and forth in the room, deep in thought.

Wang Cuiqiao spoke gently and kindly, offering words of advice such as missing one's hometown, returning to one's roots, and that murder is inauspicious and against the natural order.

Finally, Xu Hai let out a long sigh of relief, "Alright, I promise you. I will make my move during the gathering on Kinmen Island and wipe out both Chen Dong and Ye Ma's factions in one fell swoop!"

Wang Cuiqiao exclaimed happily, "Ming Shan is willing to accept the imperial pardon?"

Xu Hai shook his head. "Whether or not to accept amnesty is still up to me! However, I must eliminate Chen Dong and Ye Ma as soon as possible. Killing them and annexing their followers will make my power even greater, not much less than that of Wang Wufeng back then!"

As Xu Hai spoke, a smug smile appeared on his face, "Even if we accept the imperial pardon, I'll have more leverage to negotiate with the court!" He didn't say one more thing: if he had enough power, wouldn't it be impressive and gratifying to occupy a good port in Japan, emulate Wang Zhi Zhizhi by granting him a fiefdom, and control all kinds of pirates?

Wang Cuiqiao was overjoyed to finally understand from Xu Hai's words that he intended to accept the offer of amnesty.

Kinmen Island, located southwest of Quanzhou Prefecture, is considered one of the larger islands among the numerous islands and reefs along the southeast coast, covering an area of 150 square kilometers according to Earth Plane.

On this day, the three Wokou Faction that had been raiding all over the country gathered on Kinmen Island. Ostensibly, it was a gathering of outlaws initiated by the Wokou Pirates Chen Dong, but in reality, it was a mediation and reconciliation meeting between the two pirate forces of Ye Mazi and Xu Hai.

The three groups, with a total of over a hundred warships and nearly ten thousand elite Wokou Pirates, gathered in Kinmen Bay. Most of the Wokou Pirates stayed on their ships, while their Boss Tier, along with a group of their close followers, held a banquet on a hill.

The banquets of the Wokou Pirates were certainly not as elegant and refined as those of high-ranking officials. In fact, most of the leaders of these three "fake Japanese pirates" were roughnecks from the streets. They didn't know anything about formalities. They drank wine from large bowls, ate meat in large chunks, and had some captured female slaves sing and dance to entertain them. They didn't care whether the dancing was good or not. As long as it looked like the real thing, that was enough.

After the dance ended, a tall, thin, fair-skinned Wokou Pirates Boss Tier with a mustache stood up, raised his large bowl, and laughed, "I, Chen, thank Brother Ye and Brother Xu for this favor. We make our living by risking our lives, and it's been many years since we last met, hasn't it? This is a rare opportunity to meet, and who knows when we'll have another gathering. Everyone, drink to your heart's content! Anyone who doesn't get drunk is disrespecting me Chen Dong! Drink!"

As soon as Chen Dong, the fair-skinned Wokou Pirates with a mustache who was also the peacemaker in this case, finished speaking, a chorus of cheers and applause rang out from behind him.

Not far away, a Wokou Pirates Boss Tier with pockmarked face stood up. He was Ye Ma, the Wokou Pirates Boss Tier who was opposed to Xu Hai. He said in a hoarse voice, "What Chief Chen said is truly generous and heroic. I, Ye, admire it. I'll drink this bowl of wine with Chief Chen!" He tilted his head back and swallowed a bowl of strong liquor.

Many eyes were drawn to the last group of pirates, or more precisely, to their Boss Tier, Xu Hai.