Chapter 496: Although the Emperor Likes to Kill, He Is Indeed a Benevolent Ruler!

When Zhu Yijun received the secret memorial from the Navy Regional Commander Chen Lin, he had a sincere doubt: was the Great Ming Navy all like this? Chen Lin suspected Zhang Juzheng, and Chen Tiande suspected Chen Lin. It was truly impossible to write two "Chen" characters with one stroke—they were all carved from the same mold.

Was this something to be suspected?

Just like Chen Lin suspecting Zhang Juzheng, Chen Tiande suspecting Chen Lin had no reason to speak of. This wasn't defined by good people or bad people; it was defined by stance.

From what stance did Chen Lin do this? If he were "raising pirates to respect himself," then there was a massive Japan sitting there, waiting for the Great Ming to further understand the trade winds, ocean currents, complex typhoons, and tsunamis before launching an attack. If Chen Lin truly wanted to "raise pirates to respect himself," it would be Japan; sea pirates were truly not worth mentioning.

During the Jiajing era, the Japanese pirate trouble in the Southeast—even Hu Zongxian didn't "raise pirates to respect himself." Chen Lin had no stance.

Zhang Juzheng's New Policies and the navy led by Chen Lin were their foundation—the root of their existence. Without the New Policies, Zhang Juzheng was just a 58-year-old handsome old man. Without the navy, Chen Lin was just a general with bloody courage, perhaps even like Yu Dayou before, not getting reused. Perhaps Chen Lin could even become a great poet.

Even by the tenth year of Wanli, these two foundations were entrusted to imperial power to exist; they needed imperial power as a referee to carry out biased favoritism to survive.

To be more specific, they existed in reliance on Zhu Yijun as a person.

For example, at this moment, Zhu Yijun suddenly became addicted to opium and couldn't extricate himself, hiding in the harem and ignoring everything.

Then the navy would be immediately counter-attacked and liquidated. Chen Lin would be the first to be liquidated, and then the entire navy would be disbanded. The Great Ming had already had this happen many times. For example, the disbanding of the Capital Battalion in the Tianshun era, and in the 29th year of Jiajing, after the Zhejiang Governor Zhu Wan committed suicide, all 41 guard posts in Zhejiang were disbanded, all military registers were erased, and 439 warships were scuttled.

The military generals of the Great Ming understood the horror of "promoting literature and suppressing martial arts" better than anyone else. At the same time, all the New Policies of "revitalizing martial arts" were parasitic on the Emperor's authority, to the point where they couldn't survive without favoritism.

Chen Lin mentioned an interesting phenomenon in the secret memorial.

That was, the benefits after the Great Ming army fought a war needed ten or even dozens of years to be reflected. For example, the Great Ming's expedition to Bansheng—the effectiveness of the Suiyuan post road and Suiyuan mining would only be felt five years later. In the short term, there were no changes. Recovering costs, with the current productivity, even required fifty years.

And because of recovering the Hetao, it created the necessity of recovering the Western Regions, which was a continuous and massive investment.

The benefits of the Great Ming Navy were obvious. Taking this "Calm Waves and Clean Seas" matter as an example.

After completing the "Calm Waves and Clean Seas," these sea pirates were wiped out, and the Great Ming immediately obtained a natural good port that had not been discovered or detected before, which could be used to build the navy's old nest, build schools, shipyards, training grounds for the new army, etc., ensuring the navy's recovery capability.

In a certain sense, sea pirates were pathfinders and map-openers. As long as it was a place where sea pirates gathered, it was inevitably a maritime supply point or shelter not mastered by the Great Ming. Even if it didn't have the conditions to become a large port, it could build maritime inspection patrol offices to provide shelter for passing ships.

And there would be a massive seizure of goods. This was an immediate benefit. The sea pirates had plundered a massive amount of goods. These goods could be cashed in or supplied to the Great Ming. The short-term gains of the Great Ming Capital Battalion's expedition to Bansheng—namely, the seizures—could not be compared with the investment; even the cost of reward silver couldn't be filled.

However, the seizures of naval warfare were massive. Just looking at it from the perspective of the flow of goods, sea pirates plundered passing merchant ships, while the Great Ming Navy plundered the sea pirates. The short-term gains of naval warfare could completely satisfy the basic needs of "supporting war with war," and there would even be leftovers.

Using Chen Lin's original words:

【Sun Zi said: "Those who are good at using soldiers do not register twice, do not transport grain three times, take from the country, and rely on grain from the enemy, so the army's food can be sufficient." This is relying on grain from the enemy, taking from the enemy, supporting war with war. If the war does not stop, the army's food will never be insufficient. The country has raised soldiers for two hundred years. Ministers all say that promoting literature and suppressing martial arts is not a good strategy. However, exhausting the country with war makes the country tired. The country's fatigue lies in the long-distance transport of grain and grass; the family's exhaustion lies in the exhaustion of labor and wealth. Now the navy is supporting war with war, slightly relieving this secondary disease.】

Chen Lin meant that the short-term gains of naval warfare—namely, seizures—could satisfy the basic needs of "supporting war with war."

In the secret memorial, Chen Lin analyzed why the trend of "promoting literature and suppressing martial arts" appeared. The exhaustion of the country was the long-distance transport of grain and grass, making long-distance expeditions always an act with massive investment and minimal gains, exhausting the people and wasting wealth.

Complete precision was of course not advisable, but the heavy logistical pressure of long-distance expeditions was a problem the imperial court had to think about.

At least for the navy's wars now, the short-term seizures could balance the accounts.

Zheng He's voyages to the Western Oceans to fight Chen Zuyi, then fighting in Ceylon, establishing the Jiugang Pacification Commission, the Great Ming Navy's fierce attack on Miyangang, then striking Manila, raiding the various provinces of Japan, Zhang Yuanxun's fierce strike on the Goa Governor's Office, and so on—all were like this; one can rely on the enemy for provisions.

Because the war did not happen in the abdomen of the Great Ming or within the traditional Great Ming territory of these vassal states, they could "rely on grain from the enemy." The enemy was just the enemy, not the complex situation of the mixture of Hu and Han.

Of course, Chen Lin's secret memorial also mentioned long-term benefits: maintaining the safety and order of the maritime frontiers, making trade activities more frequent, increasing the revenue from the tariff-collecting offices, vigorous demand, promoting the increase in the number of Great Ming handicraft workshops, reducing the Great Ming's displaced people, etc. This series of long-term benefits could be slowly left to time to reflect and release.

Zhu Yijun used nearly a thousand words to reply to Chen Lin, mainly discussing the "relying on grain from the enemy." The general meaning was that it was enough to know it; there was no need to discuss it publicly. Regarding the disposal of sea pirates and seizures, he made arrangements, mainly about those opium—they must leave a trail, find the origin, and wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Opium—absolute prohibition couldn't be achieved. It was better not to do it, because the extreme decline in supply caused a rise in price, which would inevitably cause countless people to compete to plant it, instead promoting the planting of poppies. Therefore, they must find any clue and investigate to the end, never having any leniency.

Regarding Chen Lin's combat plan, Zhu Yijun didn't change a single word. He wouldn't randomly command and find trouble for the Great Ming Navy.

"Your Majesty, the Teacher is requesting an audience outside the Imperial Study," Feng Bao said, looking somewhat uneasy. "And the Minister of Rites is also waiting outside the Imperial Study."

"Proclaim them."

The capital had not been peaceful recently because the Emperor and the Grand Secretary had some disagreements. The lowly scholars hoped that this disagreement would become a sign of a break between the Emperor and the Grand Secretary, while loyal and patriotic people worried about such things happening, fearing the violent shock it would cause to the Great Ming.

And they had already experienced several confrontations. The Emperor issued an edict to the Ministry of Personnel for discussion, the discussion opposed it, and Zhang Juzheng led the court officials to oppose this proposal. The Great Ming Emperor explained the political decree, but Zhang Juzheng again opposed this proposal as the Grand Secretary, making it known to everyone. Although the specific content of the political decree was not very clear, the lowly scholars knew it had to do with the Examination of Achievements Law.

They believed that the long-awaited battle for power between the young, vigorous Emperor and the powerful ministers had begun!

Wan Shihe was here to mediate.

Wan Shihe's mood was very stable. The Emperor and the Grand Secretary had disagreements—this was not once or twice, but many, many times. Sometimes the Emperor persuaded the Teacher, and sometimes the Teacher persuaded the Emperor. Everyone's goal was for the Great Ming to be great again. As long as this fundamental goal didn't change, there wouldn't be a fundamental, decisive disagreement where they couldn't plan together.

The "all-purpose" Wan Shihe had great confidence in this.

"Your Majesty, I oppose the inclusion of opium prohibition in the Examination of Achievements... no, I oppose the 'expedient examination of achievements' for opium prohibition," Zhang Juzheng was a bit excited, his mouth slipping. He didn't oppose the prohibition of opium; he saw the harm caused by opium.

He opposed the "expedient examination of achievements" law.

The "expedient examination of achievements" law was applicable to opium prohibition, and the method of examination was a separate "all-purpose flexible indicator."

For example, County Magistrate A—among the 10 things limited this year, three were not done. If he was one short of being rated as "upper-upper," he could use the "all-purpose flexible indicator" for opium prohibition in the examination to turn his rating for this year into "upper-upper." The flexibility lay in the fact that if you didn't need to use this indicator, you could keep it on the account; whenever you wanted to use it, you could.

Great Ming prohibition: anyone who privately sells opium or sells it to outsiders, regardless of the amount, will be beheaded. This was a death row prisoner. Any death penalty required three reviews, and after obtaining the Emperor's vermilion comments, many criminals had to be escorted to the capital for slow questioning. This was also one of the sources of specimens for the Dissection Institute, and it could also greatly avoid the possibility of faking, killing the innocent to claim merit, and obtaining "all-purpose flexible indicators."

"Teacher's words are reasonable," Zhu Yijun said with a smile. "Teacher, calm down. No need to be anxious. I was a bit too eager for success."

When the Ministry of Personnel opposed it and the Cabinet opposed it, Zhu Yijun had already gradually realized that he shouldn't have added unnecessary details.

Zhu Yijun had thought quite well—this "all-purpose flexible indicator" could improve the subjective initiative of officials at all levels to prohibit opium. But he ignored the problem of "doubling." Wasn't this "expedient examination of achievements" a kind of doubling? It tore a hole in the Examination of Achievements Law.

When the Ministry of Personnel and the Grand Secretariat opposed it, Zhu Yijun gradually realized that he should not have painted a snake and added feet.

Zhu Yijun thought it was quite good—this universal, flexible indicator could improve the subjective initiative of officials at all levels in banning opium. But he ignored a problem of "doubling." To destroy a government decree, one just needs to "double" it. Isn't this "expedient examination of merit" a kind of doubling? It tore a hole right in the Merit Examination Law.

The Merit Examination Law maintains the most basic fairness in promotion and transfer; this is the core of why the Merit Examination Law can be implemented. Any expedient measure that destroys this fairness should not be executed.

The Emperor also needs a way down. Realizing that he had taken things for granted, he naturally needed the Senior Grand Secretary to enter the palace to face the Emperor and request orders before he could step down.

Wan Shihe bowed his head and said: "Mencius said: 'To demand difficulty of the ruler is called respect; to present goodness and block evil is called reverence; to say the ruler cannot is called a thief.' One person's plan is short, the crowd's plan is long. The Grand Tutor has a heart of respect and reverence; he is truly the backbone of our dynasty! Today, the world is at peace, and Your Majesty is tireless in governing, often discussing affairs with ministers. If the officials have knowledge or insights, they report them. The words are reasonable, and Your Majesty accepts good advice—this is precisely the prosperity of a sagely ruler and worthy ministers. Why should our Great Ming worry about not flourishing!"

Wan Shihe immediately began to gloss over things. Everyone is human; is it possible to live a whole life without making a single mistake? Your Majesty did indeed think wrong this time, but isn't it the duty of a minister to demand goodness?

"Stop washing it. If I thought wrong, then I thought wrong. Listening to you, it seems like I didn't think wrong at all." Zhu Yijun was first-class impressed by Wan Shihe's ability to "wash the floor"—he could even round this back! This was clearly prepared in advance. No matter who won this disagreement, Wan Shihe had something to say.

The key is, this guy actually made a lot of sense!

"Those who claim to know everything are ignorant; those who claim to be all-powerful are incompetent. Your Majesty often discusses politics with ministers and accepts good advice—this is the benevolence of a ruler. Benevolence is loving others without distinction." Wan Shihe believed that there is absolutely no one in this world who can understand everything; if one thinks so, one is ignorant. No one can be all-powerful; those who think so must be incompetent.

Being able to do one thing well is already the mark of a person who will achieve great things.

As the supreme Emperor, being able to listen to opposing opinions is itself a kind of benevolence. A gentleman takes benevolence as the foundation; not forcing people to shut up with imperial authority, and not flying into a thunderous rage at dissenting opinions, is benevolence that loves others without distinction.

Your Majesty loves others without distinction, which is reflected in the nearly a thousand people from all walks of life who report the hardships of the people outside the Huangji Gate every year; it is reflected in the fact that the lowly scholars always express outrageous opinions, yet you still patiently finish reading them, only criticizing when you really can't help it; it is reflected in the fact that every court discussion synthesizes opinions from all sides.

Although Your Majesty likes to kill, you are indeed a benevolent ruler!

Zhu Yijun leaned to one side, stretched one hand flat toward Wan Shihe, and said to Zhang Juzheng: "Teacher, do you see? This is the sophistry ability of our Great Ming scholars. They can turn black into white and the dead into the living."

After thinking seriously, Zhang Juzheng said with great certainty: "I see it, Your Majesty. I actually think the Grand Minister of Rites is right. This word 'benevolence' is interpreted well."

"Your Majesty, I think this ban on opium should just be included in the Merit Examination; there is no need for expedient merit examination or setting up a separate category. If opium becomes rampant in the future, it wouldn't be impossible to do so; affairs should follow the urgency of the situation."

Zhang Juzheng meant that the ban on opium should be included in the scope of the Merit Examination. Once opium becomes rampant in someone's jurisdiction, there should be multi-level responsibility and multi-level investigation. If it really becomes a disaster, the "universal flexible indicator" can also be activated.

He opposed the expedient merit examination because the situation was not very bad and had not reached the point of special merit examination. If it really became rampant, it wouldn't be too late to do so; it could be included in the toolbox for backup.

"Wang Qian recently submitted a memorial. I sent it to the Grand Secretariat. Teacher, why haven't you written the floating slip yet?" Zhu Yijun asked curiously. Zhu Yijun had withdrawn his plan for the expedient merit examination law and followed Zhang Juzheng's suggestion to include it in the Merit Examination, but Zhang Juzheng had been slow to give an opinion on Wang Qian's bizarre memorial, which was truly strange.

Whether it's good or bad, just say something!

Zhang Juzheng said with a complex expression: "Your Majesty, is the whole family of the Junior Grand Secretary like this? I really find it hard to judge. I hesitated for three days and still attached a blank floating slip. It is truly hard to put into words."

"What kind? Like a treacherous official?" Zhu Yijun asked with a smile.

Zhang Juzheng nodded and said: "Yes."

"Teacher seems to have a prejudice against the Junior Grand Secretary's family. Such a personal judgment is rare to see in you." Zhu Yijun clicked his tongue in wonder. Zhang Juzheng never hid his malice toward Wang Chonggu; this malice had even turned into a kind of paranoia and stereotype. No matter what Wang Chonggu did, Zhang Juzheng subconsciously started from the perspective of a treacherous official.

Zhang Juzheng nodded again and said: "Yes, I do have a prejudice against their family. If it weren't for a sagely ruler on the throne, I might have driven them out of the court completely."

The Grand Tutor and Imperial Teacher admitted his prejudice, even though Wang Chonggu had repeatedly proven since the second year of Wanli that he knew how to repent and was loyal to the ruler and the country, managing the state and benefiting the people.

But it seemed impossible to change this stereotypical perception.

"I can't blame the Senior Grand Secretary either. Wang Qian's memorial is really a bit too..." Wan Shihe carefully deliberated before saying: "... too unorthodox."

Wan Shihe's description was quite conservative.

Wang Qian submitted a memorial regarding the Yanxing Building Exchange. His memorial was several thousand words long, but its core content was only one sentence: the Emperor should act as the banker.

Wang Qian felt that shipping certificates, Suiyuan roads, and mining certificates were essentially a kind of bookkeeping currency, a currency to replace silver. The reason they replaced silver was that there wasn't enough silver. Whoever possessed more silver had absolute influence over the exchange.

And in the current Great Ming, there is no doubt that Your Majesty has the most silver. Because the Emperor holds currency far exceeding other bankers, this absolute influence has three uses.

The first method is: continuously invest silver into the Yanxing Building, continuously driving up the prices of various certificates. Various speculators will immediately swarm in. Then, the Inner Treasury can slowly sell off the certificates in its hands. Before everyone reacts, it can harvest the speculators who entered the market. The withdrawal of a large amount of silver will definitely affect the prices of the certificates, and then buy certificates at a low price. This cycle continues, harvesting without end.

The second method is to do the exact opposite: buy at a high price and sell at a low price. In short, it is to provide a floor. Providing a floor is for overall confidence. In the long run, it is for more roads, more mining, and more ships. The Emperor will definitely suffer losses, and very large ones at that, similar to: the Buddha cutting his flesh to feed the eagle, sacrificing himself to feed the tiger.

The third is to maintain stability, maintaining basic stability. Doing this is for the rationality of the exchange. The exchange will not truly become a chasm of human evil. Wang Qian bluntly stated that the exchange is a derivative of speculation; stability and rationality mean there is no speculation to speak of. Over time, it will be a pool of stagnant water. Only various bankers will be stirring up trouble inside. Without expected returns, only a small number of people will enter, and once they enter, they will be divided and eaten.

Obviously, Wang Qian most admires the first method: using the advantage of sufficient silver to continuously drive up the prices of certificates, continuously telling stories similar to fine worsted wool. Once the story of paper currency is finished, tell the story of shipping certificates, tell about roads, tell about mining, tell about steam engines, tell about cotton cloth. There are always new stories to tell, harvesting cyclically, harvesting periodically, cyclically.

A murderous knife only needs to keep telling stories to keep killing people. If this isn't a treacherous official, what is!

"If I do nothing, I am handing over the power of the exchange to bankers formed by private exchanges with very high thresholds. This is something I do not allow to happen. But letting me cut my flesh to feed the eagle, I really can't bear it. And in the long run, the bankers will use these laws to periodically harvest my silver. If I maintain stability, then this exchange might as well close down. Why open it?"

Zhu Yijun sighed and said: "Wang Qian has truly harmed me."

"Let's use the first method. Fortunately, the minimum transaction amount for certificates is five silver per sheet, which counts as setting a threshold."

"Your Majesty, actually, we can raise this threshold even higher." As a conservative, Zhang Juzheng proposed raising the threshold a bit more to prevent poor people and laborers from being blinded by greed, not knowing their own weight, and participating in the game of the exchange.

Zhang Juzheng raising the threshold means increasing the difficulty of entry. Currently, the exchange does not set limits, and one can grab a subscription shipping certificate for as little as five silver.

This threshold is something that an average family can enter. Raising the threshold will block average families outside, preventing this periodic harvesting from harming the masses. It is truly unwise to throw the little silver they have managed to save into this gambling den.

Change the subscription from one sheet to ten sheets, and the certificates under one's name must not be lower than ten sheets; otherwise, they will be forcibly cleared out. In this way, the threshold changes from five silver to fifty silver.

Upon hearing this, Wan Shihe pondered and said: "Wang Qian previously told Your Majesty that good things do not circulate. I think that if one cannot even grab government bonds issued by the Great Ming court with relatively low expected returns, one should not participate in the game of the exchange. Entering is just waiting to be harvested."

"A threshold of fifty silver is just right."

Zhu Yijun approved the suggestion to raise the threshold and issued an edict to the Ministry of Revenue, and to Wang Qian, who is in charge of the exchange, to discuss the matter of setting limits for the exchange.

Wang Qian vehemently opposed it! He believed that the conservatives should stop playing with commodity economy and just go home to farm; they should just stick to small-scale peasant economy. Since they are doing it, why raise the threshold? What is the difference between this and taking off one's pants to fart!

Of course, Wang Qian's opposition was invalid. He soon changed from opposition to approval: the threshold should be raised, limits should be set, the court is thoughtful, and Your Majesty is wise.

The reason for this change was also very clear and obvious: the Seven-Star Ring-Pommel Saber had returned to the world of martial arts. Wang Chonggu was walking like the wind, wanting to hack Wang Qian, and chased him for three whole streets—one street more than last time!

In the end, Wang Qian almost couldn't outrun his elderly father.

The Junior Grand Secretary's family killing the rebellious son, and the censors of the Censorate carrying water on the street, became the two most famous spectacles and amusements in the capital. As long as there was a commotion, there were many onlookers.

Wang Chonggu went to the Imperial Study in Tonghe Palace with a face full of shame to plead guilty. Very few people knew about Wang Qian's bizarre memorial. As long as the Grand Secretariat did not easily leak it, the fact that the Emperor wanted to act as the banker was still a top-secret matter. But in the judgment of the Spring and Autumn Annals, the evil name of the Emperor being greedy for money was definitely unavoidable.

To trap the ruler in great unrighteousness is to be a treacherous official.

Zhu Yijun praised Wang Chonggu's "precious saber not being old." A ring-pommel saber weighing more than six catties—if Wang Chonggu could hold it and run for three streets, what else could it be but a "precious saber not being old"?

Zhu Yijun explained this problem. The problem Wang Qian raised is one that the Emperor must face. One cannot blame him just because he discovered it. To ensure that the Yanxing Building is the Emperor's Yanxing Building, Zhu Yijun must act as the banker. The method of using absolute influence can neither be cutting flesh nor maintaining stability, so it can only be periodic adjustment.

Wang Chonggu pleaded guilty again. "If a son is not taught, it is the father's fault." Wang Chonggu felt that he had failed to teach his son.

On the thirteenth day of the seventh month of the tenth year of Wanli, two days later would be the Ghost Festival. This day is also a day for honoring ancestors and showing filial piety. An imperial edict was passed from the Grand Secretariat to the Wenyuan Pavilion. After the Senior Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng, Junior Grand Secretary Wang Chonggu, and Assistant Ministers Wang Guoguang and Wan Shihe discussed the edict, it was sent down to the Ministry of War and circulated everywhere.

The content of the edict was what Chen Lin had requested: Pacify the Waves and Clean the Seas.

The court and the public were in an uproar!

Because for such a large-scale action, which could even be described as a war, not a single person among the civil and military officials knew about it!

The action that Chen Lin had been preparing for more than a month under the banner of an armed cruise to Japan was actually an operation launched by the navy stationed at the five maritime trade offices, the guest soldiers of the Jiugang, Luzon, Ryukyu, and Nagasaki Governor's Offices to destroy private markets and wipe out sea pirates!

The uproar of the court officials was inevitable because the secret memorial system itself was a secret known only to the court officials; most people did not know that the secret memorial system had been established.

The court officials did not have the habit of gossiping. The famous ministers who could climb to this position were all cautious private secretaries; when they should play dumb, they were definitely dumb.

The reaction inside and outside the court was: Why? What happened? How did they know there were private markets? And now they are starting the action?

Even more terrifying was a sense of panic that the Emperor was doing things while casting aside the civil and military officials, which spread rapidly in the court!

While the court was still discussing it, it only took one day for Chen Lin to receive the Emperor's edict. This was delivered by the coastal defense inspection, and the speed was astonishing. In terms of information, thanks to the construction and supplementation of the Coastal Defense Inspection Office, Songjiang Prefecture was only one day away from the capital, much closer than the Southern Yamen.

The navy's reaction speed was even more astonishing. Originally, the morning of the fourteenth day of the seventh month was the day to set off for an armed cruise to Ryukyu and Japan. Although the target had changed, the well-trained navy set sail at the fastest speed.

On the night of the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the bright moon rose over the sea. The moonlight of the full moon spilled onto the sea surface, sparkling. The sea surface was covered with a layer of silver, constantly rippling in the wind. One after another, pirate ships sailed into the San'ao Bay. The large trading day was tonight, and there were many, many ships today.

The Songjiang Town Navy personally led by Chen Lin arrived outside the San'ao Bay. The whole army was silent and did not light any lamps, quietly waiting for the pirate ships to enter the encirclement.

When Chen Lin saw this place with his own eyes, he was truly satisfied with this old lair.

Of course, when Chen Tiande boarded the five-masted ocean-crossing flagship, Chen Lin beat Chen Tiande up. The reason was very sufficient: "You are the protective umbrella for the Japanese pirates! Your whole family is!"

How could one curse people like that!

In Great Ming, communicating with the Japanese is a great humiliation; even communicating with foreigners or Tatars is better than communicating with the Japanese.

The mapping of the terrain in Fujian was very slow. There were many mountains here, and the roads were difficult to walk. From land, this was a mountain; from the sea, this was a small bay. With a sea surface only four li wide, no one would think this was a good port, but as long as one went inside, it was a different world.

The navy waited until no more ships were sailing into San'ao Bay. Four 400-liao battle ships served as the vanguard and slowly sailed into San'ao Bay. After the Great Ming's five five-masted ocean-crossing ships, forty-three horse ships, and eighty battle ships sailed into San'ao, the Great Ming Navy's twenty battle ships hung iron chains to block the four-li-wide estuary.

Iron chains across the sea—this time, it was catching a turtle in a jar.

(End of chapter)