Chapter 1055: Luo Qianjin, Brave Among the Three Armies!

Great Ming had a very serious Japanese pirate trauma syndrome. This syndrome was very obvious in Great Ming, and Great Ming was very sensitive to sea pirates.

For example, England issued a privateer license. This license actually had nothing to do with Great Ming, because it was also harming the West, but Great Ming still refused to communicate with England to this day and formulated a series of policies to make things difficult for England.

Hearing that Annan had a tendency to become Japanese pirates, not only did they close Da Nang, but they also allowed Annan people to attack Great Ming merchant ships. Great Ming immediately became a bit stressed and reacted quickly.

Most importantly, even the Grand Secretary Shen Li, who had always opposed it, began to draft the manifesto. This meant that the Great Ming's use of military force against Annan had passed the moral review of the Ministry of Rites.

Great Ming's war machine began to turn rapidly. After the crushing victory of the last Bozhou War, no one in Great Ming felt that Great Ming would lose.

Gao Panlong looked at the pile of excited miscellaneous newspapers in front of him and sighed. Everyone was advocating punishing Annan, letting Annan know the terrible end of allowing sea pirates, and advocating the benefits Great Ming would gain after the victory of the war. They were all expectations for the war.

The Grand Secretary Shen Li's worries were correct; the Great Ming was falling into a kind of danger.

On the one hand, Great Ming's unconditional favoritism toward the poor and suffering people brought about social tearing and intensified contradictions. On the other hand, the imperial court frequently used foreign wars to divert contradictions. If this approach won, it would be fine, but if it lost, it would really turn the world upside down.

"What if we lose?" Gao Panlong sighed. He looked at the visiting card sent by Gu Xiancheng in front of him.

Gao Panlong was different from Gu Xiancheng. Gu Xiancheng was deprived of his merit because of the imperial examination fraud and was never employed, even involving his family. Gao Panlong was much better. He was just an opinion basket and did not receive the imperial court's punishment.

Gao Panlong didn't want to have too much connection with Gu Xiancheng, mainly because he was afraid that when Gu Xiancheng was struck by lightning, he would be involved.

Gu Xiancheng sent a visiting card, actually just for one thing: hoping to talk to Gao Panlong about the use of force against Annan, mainly opposing the war.

"If you study the theory of contradictions and class theory, you won't be so stupid." Gao Panlong threw the visiting card aside. He didn't intend to see Gu Xiancheng, and he didn't intend to jump out and oppose the war like these cheap scholars.

Cheap scholars are like this, always opposing for the sake of opposing.

If the cheap scholar was right, he would be arrogant and say, look, I said it would be like this long ago; if the cheap scholar was wrong, he would pretend he hadn't said such things and avoid talking about it.

Gao Panlong used to be a cheap scholar who didn't hear anything outside the window. His understanding of state affairs was quite naive. Since the theory of contradictions and class theory, he had broken away from the cheap scholar sequence and became a member of the conservative faction of Great Ming.

He wanted to oppose the war in his own way. He organized his thoughts and wrote a miscellaneous newspaper, trying to pull back the increasingly fierce trend, but his miscellaneous newspaper was like a stone sinking into the sea, without causing any response, and without any discussion.

This is why cheap scholars like to hold groups. As long as they hold groups, even if it is a very small number of voices, it will be amplified countless times, and finally, this very small number of voices will become the majority, and finally become a consistent voice.

Wan Shihe explained this phenomenon of wind power public opinion when he was alive. Wan Shihe called it a mob, or the echo chamber effect.

The echo chamber is the circular wall of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. If one hundred people are put in, and everyone keeps shouting different sounds, the loudest sound will constantly cover other sounds, and others will involuntarily echo this loudest sound.

It only takes a period of time for everyone's voice to become consistent.

This is a human instinct to follow the crowd, or rather, ordinary people don't have enough judgment to judge the right or wrong of the information received, but subconsciously follow the "loudest" sound so as not to make themselves look out of place. The

Judging from the results, everyone in a massive movement would slowly become a mob.

On the matter of public opinion, forming a clique became the best means. One person's voice was not loud enough, but by forming a clique, even if there were not many people, the voice would become louder. Finally, under the influence of conformity, public opinion would become the shape one wanted.

Regarding this phenomenon, Wan Shihe determined one thing, and that was that the *Di Bao* (Court Gazette) must, absolutely must, become the loudest voice in the Great Ming.

The *Di Bao* was born with authority; it was issued by the Emperor, and behind it represented the will of imperial power and the decisions of the court.

Therefore, for the *Di Bao* to maintain its own authority, first of all, it must be truthful and absolutely must not lie; secondly, apart from the bottom line of not defying His Majesty, it could not have any natural stance. Even if the court was wrong, it had to be explained clearly and thoroughly, rather than covered up.

Fairness and justice were the greatest standards of the *Di Bao*. Precisely because of this rule established by Wan Shihe, the *Di Bao* had always been the loudest voice in the Great Ming.

Under the echo chamber effect, Gao Panlong's voice was directly treated as noise. Very quickly, under such public sentiment, Gao Panlong even felt that perhaps he had thought too much and thought wrongly.

What Gao Panlong did not know was that his miscellaneous reports were sent before the Emperor of the Great Ming.

Zhu Yijun was busy with a myriad of affairs, but he specifically had Li Yougong organize social conditions and public opinion. He read the articles of the conservatives, the articles of the reformers, and even selected a few well-written articles from the "cheap scholars" to be sent before the Emperor.

"This article by Gao Panlong is still excellent." After Zhu Yijun finished reading Gao Panlong's article, although this article did not stir up any waves, his argument was very complete. To be able to say such things under such public opinion, he could be considered to have courage.

Zhu Yijun crossed Gao Panlong's name off the list of "cheap scholars" and placed him in the list of conservatives.

Gao Panlong summarized the use of military force against Annan from ancient times to the present: Annan is easy to fight but hard to govern.

Annan could not even gain any actual advantage in the hands of the two Song dynasties. Duke of England Zhang Fu conquered Annan twice; it took as short as three months and as long as six months to conquer Annan.

But why did such an easy-to-fight Annan appear to have repeated rebellions?

Gao Panlong gave the answer: easy to fight, hard to govern.

Fighting is easy. Annan lacks iron and coal, its weapons and equipment are obviously backward, its people are not cohesive enough, and there are many internal forces constantly fighting each other. When the Great Ming's heavenly troops march in, military victory is very easy.

But political victory is very difficult.

Gao Panlong mentioned a problem that others had not mentioned, and that was that the royal palace of Thang Long (Annan's capital) used yellow tiles, rather than the blue tiles of Joseon or Japan. Blue tiles are for princes, and yellow tiles are for emperors.

This is ritual, and the yellow tiles of the Thang Long palace are the true manifestation of the contradictory and complex inner heart of the Annan people.

On one hand, they are unable to resist the military conquest and cultural interference from the north; on the other hand, they refuse to truly submit.

The successive kings of Annan bowed and called themselves subjects to the Central Plains dynasty and called themselves kings to the Central Plains dynasty, while within Annan, they called themselves emperors.

Of course, is this the real reason why Annan has repeatedly rebelled and refused to truly submit in history? Gao Panlong thinks not.

Not to mention previous history, just speaking of the problem of Annan rebelling again after being made a prefecture and county during the Yongle reign, was it really because the bureaucrats sent by the Great Ming were too inhumane, leading to officials forcing the people to rebel, and finally driving the Great Ming people back to the Great Ming? Gao Panlong thinks that is not it either.

Although he had never been to Annan, he had been to Liangguang, where he saw a large number of Annan people coming to the Great Ming to cut sugarcane. These Annan people had no ability to complete the act of resistance at all.

At that time, Annan had no ability to manufacture weapons and equipment on a large scale and in large quantities. Annan was extremely short of iron. The Great Ming sold iron pots to Annan, and that kind of inferior iron pot could cost three taels of silver each.

Gao Panlong pointed out sharply that there were internal traitors.

This was not his deduction or hypothesis, but a fact.

Before the Wanli Reforms, there were already a large number of Han landlords on the land of Annan. These Han people from Zhejiang, Fujian, and Liangguang arrived in Annan, became the "meat-eaters" (ruling class) of Annan, and annexed land.

After the Wanli Reforms, the scale of these Han landlords grew several times larger.

Maritime trade, voyages to the Western Oceans, and voyages to the Southern Oceans had always been the key interests over which the court and the southeastern regions fought until they were bruised and battered. During the Yongle reign, Annan was gained and then lost; behind it was the struggle for the dominance of maritime trade interests.

Gao Panlong is a conservative, not a capitulationist, and certainly not a "cheap scholar."

His meaning is very clear: it is very easy for the Great Ming to obtain military victory, but to obtain political victory, it needs to face two difficulties: one is the resistance will of the Annan people, and the second is to find ways to prevent internal traitors from snatching the fruits of victory.

To increase persuasiveness, Gao Panlong also specifically talked about the coveting of shipyards by the powerful and wealthy families in Jiangnan after the Yongle reign.

Especially during the Zhengtong reign, these powerful and wealthy families wanted to take advantage of the young ruler and the suspicious state to turn government factories into private workshops, but in the end, Empress Dowager Zhang, citing the ancestral foundation, refused to sell, and the schemes of these powerful and wealthy families did not succeed.

They let a large number of government factories, represented by the Longjiang Shipyard, silently rot in silence.

The snatching of the fruits of victory by internal traitors is a common occurrence.

This time, Annan's reaction is a bit strange. The Annan people, who are in rags and cannot even get enough to eat, do not have any shipbuilding ability at all. As a result, Annan not only has the ability to close Da Nang but can also launch attacks on the Great Ming's three-masted merchant ships. This must raise a question.

Where did the Annan people get the ships? Where did they get the armor and weapons?

This miscellaneous report by Gao Panlong hopes that the Great Ming can obtain political victory while obtaining military victory, rather than starting a war, winning several great victories, and finally ending up with a tiger's head and a snake's tail, leaving a mess.

"Forward it to the *Di Bao*." Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment and still decided to forward this article by Gao Panlong to the *Di Bao* for publication nationwide.

Zhu Yijun is willing to call Gao Panlong a "Mahayana Winner Scholar." Not only wanting military victory but also political victory, pursuing the "Winner Studies" of great wins and true wins, rather than small wins and decorated wins, is Mahayana Winner Studies.

Gao Panlong really wants the Great Ming to truly win, and then the hinterland of the Great Ming can continue to sing and dance in peace. Only in such a stable world can a "complaint-monger" like him live prosperously.

"Documentary of the Selected Tribute Case?" Zhu Yijun sat up straight abruptly. The Nanjing Selected Tribute Case was the fifth major case of the Wanli reign handled by Zhu Yijun. Very few people discussed this matter in miscellaneous reports because the case was complex, and 621 families were exterminated; no one dared to discuss this matter publicly.

Zhu Yijun finished reading the signature and confirmed that it was the work of the Ministry of Rites, because this miscellaneous report was personally written by Gao Qiyu, the Minister of Rites.

Gao Qiyu summarized the Selected Tribute Case from beginning to end. In fact, there was one point in the entire Selected Tribute Case that was never made clear from beginning to end, and that was why the result of the Selected Tribute Case was treason, a political case.

Everyone knew that this case, which affected a wide range of people, was a political case, but the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Rites had not made it clear before why it was a political case and why it was treason. This time, Gao Qiyu made it clear.

Because the Selected Tribute Case prevented the formation of Great Ming *jinshi* families. The traitors in the Selected Tribute Case had the goal of achieving eternal wealth and honor for generations by changing the imperial examination system, but the outbreak of the Selected Tribute Case prevented this beautiful dream of eternal inheritance.

In the article "Examination of *Jinshi* Families," 96% of *jinshi* families could not escape a nightmare, which was the curse that wealth does not last beyond three generations. Out of a total of 2,088 *jinshi*, only 51 families passed beyond three generations, and the rest did not pass beyond three generations.

And the essence of the Selected Tribute Case was using various means to let the sons of *jinshi* become *jinshi*.

As of the 22nd year of Wanli, among these 2,088 verifiable *jinshi*, 46% were born as commoners, and their ancestors had never produced any *xiucai*, *juren*, or *jinshi*.

Families that had produced *xiucai* but not *juren* or *jinshi* accounted for 2%.

Families that had produced *juren* but not *jinshi* accounted for 50.5%.

And the proportion of *jinshi* descendants becoming *jinshi* did not exceed 1%.

Even this 1% only appeared after the Hongzhi reign. For example, the father and son Yang Tinghe and Yang Shen, who wanted to force the palace, had almost no precedent of *jinshi* descendants becoming *jinshi* before the Hongzhi reign of the Xiaozong Emperor.

In other words, the *jinshi* of the Great Ming were a form of upward social mobility, mainly depending on personal talent and diligence, belonging to personal struggle, while the children of *juren* becoming *jinshi* accounted for more than half.

The essence of the Selected Tribute Case was the inability to monopolize the palace examination, so they took the next best step: controlling the output of *jinshi* by monopolizing the selection of local *juren*.

For example, it was found in the Selected Tribute Case that a thing called "official scrolls" generally existed in the Southern Yamen. These official scrolls were not anonymized and were not cross-verified. In each provincial examination, each place was different, but overall, 10% of the *juren* quota had to be left for these "official scroll" descendants.

The composition of "official scroll" descendants was families of "virtuous and well-known in the countryside," such as officials selecting officials, *jinshi*, *juren* descendants, wealthy merchants, and powerful and wealthy families.

For example, during the investigation, it was discovered that in Wangjiang County, Anqing Prefecture, a regulation appeared that commoners with "cold records" were not allowed to attend the Anqing Prefecture provincial examination.

"Commoners with cold records" meant those who had not produced any *xiucai*, *juren*, or *jinshi* within three generations and were not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations.

There was no specific written regulation, but in actual execution, the academy examination to become a *xiucai* required a *xiucai* to act as a guarantor, and *xiucai* would not act as guarantors for commoners; the local county government would not issue travel permits for *xiucai* to go to examinations, etc., achieving the goal of monopolizing the imperial examinations through a roundabout way.

After the Selected Tribute Case, no one dared to do this again. After all, the Emperor was truly killing people. The Selected Tribute Case exterminated 621 families, and the Great Ming families that could be called "virtuous gentry" and "powerful and wealthy families" only totaled a little over 8,000 households.

At the end of the article, Gao Qiyu said bluntly: "The powerful and wealthy families are all terrified upon hearing the news and have many criticisms. If the common people do not know the details and follow what others say, I fear it will hurt the benevolent heart and supreme virtue of the Sage Monarch."

Some people wanted to steal the upward channel for themselves, and the Emperor bore the infamy to prevent all this from happening. The people who were stopped would naturally be dissatisfied, but if the common people followed these powerful and wealthy families in talking nonsense, then for whom and for what did the Emperor do all this?

"I fear it will hurt the benevolent heart and supreme virtue of the Sage Monarch." Zhu Yijun put down the miscellaneous report in his hand with a smile, shook his head, and said: "This Gao Qiyu, I thought he was unwilling to share the pressure for the Crown Prince because he intended to change his way of life and did not intend to be a 'solitary minister,' but he ended up writing such an article."

Gao Qiyu became the Minister of Rites, became a Junior Grand Secretary, and walked in the Western Study; he already had the qualifications to choose the path he wanted to take. If he did not want to be a "solitary minister" and wanted to take the path of an upright and unyielding minister, Zhu Yijun would not stop him, but he did not expect that Gao Qiyu would still take the path of a "solitary minister."

Li Yougong pondered for a moment and whispered: "Your Majesty, when Duke Wang Wencheng was alive, he said that Minister Gao could only be a 'solitary minister.' This 'solitary' means he can only be the Emperor's minister."

Your Majesty has a slight misunderstanding of Wang Chonggu's words. The "solitary minister" Your Majesty understands is someone like Wang Guoguang, who is cautious, independent, refuses to form cliques for private interests, refuses to cling to the powerful and wealthy, and exhausts his heart and strength for the country. That is "upright," not "solitary."

A "solitary minister" is one of the six evils, one who only serves the superior, and even if the Emperor is wrong, he refuses to remonstrate and correct him.

If it were Gao Qiyu as the Grand Secretary, he would not be like Shen Li, blocking the Emperor from using military force, but would try every possible way to make the reasons more sufficient.

This is the difference. Strictly speaking, Gao Qiyu should be considered "turbid flow" rather than "clear flow." Such near-flattery, blatantly saying in miscellaneous reports and the *Di Bao* that the Emperor killed well, killed wonderfully, and killed too little—such ministers have been rare since ancient times.

"So that's what 'solitary' means..." Zhu Yijun frowned. Once Li Yougong said this, the Emperor of the Great Ming realized that Ling Yunyi choosing Gao Qiyu to stay behind in the capital was not without reason. What Ling Yunyi valued was this "solitary" quality of Gao Qiyu.

If the Emperor were a muddled ruler, Gao Qiyu would 99% likely become a great treacherous minister like Cai Jing or Yan Song, because this kind of "solitary minister" is truly useful.

Fortunately, Zhu Yijun himself feels that he is at most a tyrant, still a bit different from a muddled ruler, so Gao Qiyu might still have a good ending.

Zhu Yijun flipped through almost all the miscellaneous reports. In the three places of Shuntian Prefecture, Yingtian Prefecture, and Songjiang Prefecture, the most discussed things were two: one was naturally the use of military force against Annan, and the second was Li Yashi's "On China."

Li Yashi's "On China" was written a bit too flatteringly. A phrase like "transcending the cycle" directly determined the status of the Great Ming in the sequence of transcendence, rather than the sequence of ordinary civilizations, and Li Yashi's viewpoint left the scholar-officials not knowing how to refute it.

In the end, the scholar-officials of the Great Ming scolded Li Yashi, saying that Li Yashi was an ungrateful white-eyed wolf, who had not been tamed after twenty years of raising, and actually wanted to leave the Great Ming.

Facing this questioning, Li Yashi also responded: his return to the West was to practice his own Dao, and this process would inevitably expand the influence of the Great Ming; he was not betraying it.

The enemies of the Great Ming, the enemies of China, have never been the barbarians, but themselves.

The benefits of this "transcending the cycle" are countless, but the disadvantages are also obvious, which is that it is particularly fragile during periods of great turmoil. In the past, the Western Jin migrated the Hu people into the Central Plains, causing the world to wither, and then the party struggles and the struggle between civil and military officials in the two Song dynasties gave the Hu people an opportunity.

The enemies of China have always been themselves. More clearly, the survival of order for an ultra-long time makes people forget the horror of disorder.

After order has been stable for two hundred years, how the main body of this order, that is, the court, specifically the officials, maintains vitality is the primary problem that the Chinese people need to think about, rather than scolding him, an old bone who is almost useless to the Great Ming, an alien.

Zhu Yijun looked at the miscellaneous reports in front of him, and a bit of anger rose. Are these scholar-officials of the Great Ming not so eloquent on weekdays?! To be scolded by a Western alien and unable to retort is simply... simply... they are all raised on eating idle rice!

Facts are greater than eloquence. They cannot scold him because what Li Yashi wants to do conforms to the mainstream values of the Great Ming, showing his blood and integrity, and the courage to die without turning back in order to pursue and spread light. It is normal that the scholar-officials cannot scold him.

On the 17th day of the sixth month, Zhu Yijun convened another court conference. This court conference was still aimed at using military force against Annan.

"Your Majesty, I have already drafted the manifesto. I implore Your Majesty to take a look." After the court conference began, Shen Li immediately stepped out of the ranks to express his attitude.

His previous reasons for opposing the war were very clear. The survey conducted by Wang Jiaping and Wan Wenqing could not convince Shen Li, could not pass the moral review, and could not even convince the officials of the Ministry of Rites who were not involved. It would be even harder to convince the soldiers and generals participating in the war.

Soldiers are not machines; they are living people. Only by letting them clearly know why they are fighting and for whom they are fighting can this war truly be won.

His reasons for supporting the war now are also clear: the Great Ming will never allow Annan to become "Japanese-pirate-ized."

"I have already read it. Let it be as the Grand Secretary says." Zhu Yijun said with a serious expression: "The Grand Secretary is loyal to the monarch and loves the country. The Grand Secretary has already persuaded me before, but Annan is so provocative that it cannot be tolerated."

Before, Zhu Yijun really intended to give up and continue to grind his tongue, letting the four great families survey, at least to get the power of free navigation, making Da Nang an important transit port for the Great Ming. For this, Zhu Yijun could even accept stopping the slave trade of Annan.

But Annan is provocative and wants to engage in privateering, so it can only be fought. The development of things is always unexpected.

"Your Majesty, there are three keys to this battle. First is Lang Son; past Lang Son is the boundless Red River Plain, which is the densely populated area of Annan. Second is Hai Duong City at the mouth of the Red River. Hai Duong City and Quang Yen City are located on the north and south banks of the Red River respectively, acting as horns for each other, easy to defend and hard to attack, and are also the maritime gateway to Thang Long City."

"Third is Da Nang. This place is the main road connecting the north and south of Annan. Taking Da Nang can cut Annan at the waist, dividing it into two." Qi Jiguang stood up and talked eloquently in front of the terrain map.

The terrain of Annan is narrow and long from north to south, similar to a shoulder pole, and the location of Da Nang is at the shoulder of this shoulder pole. At the two ends of the shoulder pole, one end is the Red River Plain, and the other end is Champa in the Mekong Delta.

This Great Ming attack is different from the past, which was mainly based on land advancement, but is mainly based on maritime attack.

The heavy responsibility is pressed on these three places: Hai Duong City, Quang Yen City, and Da Nang. The Great Ming ground forces are mainly deployed in Lang Son, attracting the Annan defenders. After the cities of Da Nang, Hai Duong, etc., are taken, they will advance south again.

"Within three months, take Thang Long City and replace the yellow tiles of the Thang Long palace with blue tiles." Qi Jiguang introduced the goal of the first phase of the campaign.

The first phase is a three-month period, and the goal is to replace the yellow tiles of the Thang Long palace and beat out Annan's heart of disobedience.

The second phase is to occupy the entire Red River Plain, punish the disobedient, exterminate the bandits, and destroy the Mo and Nguyen families; the third phase is to go south to Champa.

For these three phases, the latter two phases do not have a set deadline, nor do they have specific goals, but are fought while watching. The minimum expectation is to take Da Nang to ensure the free navigation of Great Ming merchant ships.

After Qi Jiguang explained the overall goal, he explained the difficulties of the specific operations. In fact, what he said was very simple and easy to understand, but most of the ministers present did not know much about military affairs and only had a half-understanding of the explanation.

"What Qi Shuai said is very true." Zhu Yijun nodded repeatedly and said: "Whether it is Chen Lin or Luo Shangzhi, both are experienced in battle, so I will not point fingers."

Zhu Yijun maintained his consistent attitude toward military affairs, not engaging in micromanagement. This is the ancestral instruction of Zhu Yuanzhang. For things thousands of miles away, he, the Emperor, does not have clairvoyance or clairaudience, so the Grand General Conquering the South, the General Conquering the South, and the Assistant Regional Commander will consider and decide for themselves.

In fact, it can be seen from the terrain map that the Great Ming is determined to win Annan. The terrain map is a bit too detailed, not inferior to the terrain map of the Great Ming hinterland.

Over the years, the Great Ming has never stopped surveying the terrain of Annan and has also collected a large amount of intelligence through merchants going to Annan.

Moreover, the Guangzhou treasury has 11 million *shi* of new and old grain. The scale of the grain treasury alone is extremely huge. These grain treasuries were not built in a day or two, and storing grain is even more troublesome and cumbersome. It was started when Wang Jiaping was the Provincial Governor in Liangguang and has been built for a full fifteen years.

Zhu Yijun is very sure that the Great Ming people have been waiting for this day, waiting since they lost Jiaozhi during the Xuande reign.

If you ask Qi Jiguang, after forty years of fighting in the north and south, when is the most reassuring time to fight? That is since the Wanli Reforms, after His Majesty personally took charge of military affairs.

Generals like Qi Jiguang, Li Chengliang, Li Rusong, and Chen Lin finally do not have to worry about the court's wind direction affecting the war situation.

In his *Art of War*, he strongly advocated logistics support. Firstly, this is indeed the essence of war, and secondly, His Majesty is very good at this. Although His Majesty cannot fight, His Majesty can ensure that the Great Ming army is fully paid and can fight with peace of mind. This is the vastness of heavenly grace!

With a fully paid Great Ming army, Qi Jiguang believes that no one can compete with it. Qi Jiguang can clearly say that sentence: The Great Ming is invincible in the world!

This court conference had no dissenting votes. No one opposed using military force against Annan; everything was brought upon themselves by Annan.

"Report! Your Majesty, a victory report!" A courier carrying a vermilion letter tube ran to the Imperial Study, took off the letter tube, and said loudly: "The General Conquering the South, Luo Shangzhi, has won the first battle and severely damaged the thieves near Gusu Island in Annan!"

Zhu Yijun checked the wax seal of the letter tube, opened it, finished reading the victory report, and said with a smile: "Luo Shangzhi, Luo 'One Thousand Catties,' is the bravest of the three armies!"

Luo Shangzhi leading the vanguard to fight well is one aspect, and there is also the cooperation of the Annan people. The Annan people really believed in a legend, that is, the small boat "wolf pack tactics" could deal with large ships.

As a result, nearly three hundred small boats of Annan had no way to deal with one Great Ming fast sailing ship and two five-masted ocean-crossing ships near the sea surface of Gusu Island.

In one battle, the Great Ming captured more than 1,600 thieves.

However, what made Luo Shangzhi particularly worried was that among these 1,600-plus captives, 1,100 were actually Great Ming people.