Chapter 234: A Gathering of Worthies (7)

After Du Dewei arrived at the large red-brick house on the shore, he understood at once that this cluster was a critical place like the "White Tiger Hall" or the "Central Army Tent," so he couldn't help feeling somewhat uneasy.

The entire hall was divided into two parts. One half held long tables and had maps on the walls, clearly used for military meetings. The other half was what Du Dewei saw before him now: a traditional Ming-dynasty reception layout, and aside from the kun-haired guards standing around gripping firearms, everything else was normal.

After a quick glance around, the man lowered his head and followed behind Xue Haiyuan, stepping forward to pay respects to the military officer in the main seat — he now knew that this man was the new boss who would control his fate from now on.

So Du Dewei dropped to his knees without hesitation and began kowtowing: that whole brotherhood-of-the-rivers-and-lakes routine from the pirate den simply wouldn't work in official circles.

The military officer was a Fifth-Rank Official, for he wore a blue official robe with a bear panther badge on the chest: it was none other than the counterfeit Cao Chuan, Zhang Dongdong.

"This commoner Du Dewei kneels and kowtows to General Daren."

"No need for excessive ceremony. Please rise."

After expressing thanks and being offered a seat, Zhang Dongdong also introduced the man to Company Commander Sha Zhengming, who was sitting to one side.

By this point, concealment was meaningless. So in the conversation that followed, Du Dewei heard a story like this: after Zheng Zhilong's death was confirmed not long ago, the Dayuan bandit chiefs — the backup candidates who had been secretly in contact with Lao Xiong all along — finally got their chance to become the real deal, reached a secret agreement with Lao Xiong, accepted recruitment and amnesty, and conveniently took over the newly built Matsu Naval Fortress that Lao Xiong had established for the bandit suppression campaign...

If Du Dewei had been familiar with how officialdom worked, he would have spotted the holes in this account: the timeline didn't add up. Bear in mind, the news confirming Zheng Zhilong's demise had only just arrived, and given the way the authorities operated, there was absolutely no way they could have completed the entire follow-up recruitment and amnesty process in such a short time.

And besides, what the hell was a secret summon pacification? Shouldn't it have been openly announced in the court gazette for all under Heaven to know? Could it be that this military camp on the outskirts of Fuzhou was an unregistered operation?

Yet Du Dewei understood none of this. He was merely a 17th-century pirate chief longing to become a civil servant, not a reporter hell-bent on investigating the dark secrets of officialdom.

Or rather, even if he had known all the inside details, it wouldn't have mattered: Zheng Zhilong had previously been hunting down his old boss Xu Xinsu everywhere, and now the man was dead and his lamp extinguished — this was a good thing.

The only thing Old Du had to do now was demonstrate his loyalty before his new boss, and along the way discuss the future arrangements for the men and ships under his command — not go chasing after some mystery of Zheng Zhilong's death.

Seeing that the two parties he had introduced were now on the right track, Xue Haiyuan rose and took his leave: there was still another one waiting back at the commercial firm, and the old man was very busy today.

Just before Xue Haiyuan had set out that day, a pirate chief with a broad square face, large ears, and an honest-looking countenance had also come knocking. After receiving word from a clerk, Xue Haiyuan hurriedly exchanged the secret code phrases, then temporarily settled the guest in a side room. Now he needed to hurry back to receive him. Oh, right — the secret name this visitor had been given by Xu Xinsu was "Liu Dehua."

After Xue Haiyuan left, Du Dewei began laying out his family fortune in full detail before the two court-appointed officials.

Company Commander Sha Zhengming — who kept his head shaved bald, had a massive frame, actually ran the day-to-day operations of the naval fortress, and concurrently oversaw recruitment and amnesty matters — after hearing Du Dewei's report, first nodded: this man's account basically matched the contents of the telegram sent from Yuegang.

Next, Sha Zhengming once again put the ugly truths up front: this pirate force would definitely be reorganized. If you, Du, were still harboring thoughts of "running a private force of retainers and watching the winds to gauge the situation," then you could leave now, and they would not make things difficult for you. But once these men entered the naval fortress, military law would be merciless. Shopkeeper Du, think it over carefully before you reply.

What else could Du Dewei say? Having already thrust in this deep, if he didn't shudder now, wouldn't that make him impotent? And so, the two sides ultimately reached a private, under-the-table agreement: afterward, Zhang Dongdong, who was specifically responsible for dealing with the authorities, would step forward and first secure Du Dewei a post as an Outer Garrison Commander.

After this, Du Dewei himself would still be responsible for commanding a portion of the reorganized pirates, and if he earned military merits in the future, further promotion would not be late.

With the agreement reached, Du, now thoroughly resolved, did not linger any longer: he needed to hurry back to do ideological work on his subordinates and distribute the family assets — these tasks would take him two or three days.

And the naval fortress side likewise had many preparations to make. After all, the Du Clan Gang was, whatever else one said, a bandit outfit that claimed to have 20 ships; the total number of men would certainly exceed 1,000 — they could not afford to take it lightly.

And on the second morning after Du Dewei left the naval fortress, the long-brewing second recruitment and amnesty affair finally came into the open: in the early morning, a proclamation was posted simultaneously at all four gates of Fuzhou.

This proclamation was drafted by the Adviser of the Grand Coordinator's Office, and its content was divided into two parts.

The first section recalled the past: Grand Pacification Commissioner Xiong recounted the sincerity and earnestness he had shown when previously recruiting and granting amnesty to Zheng Zhilong.

The second part addressed the present situation: Lao Xiong first expressed his great disappointment that Zheng Zhilong had failed to return by the deadline, then once again extended an invitation to the pirates and mountain bandits of the Three Mountains and Five Peaks, promising that so long as everyone came to surrender to the court and join the old man, "past matters would not be inquired into," and he was willing to bestow official posts and titles upon those who came.

For those common folk who buried their heads merely seeking survival, this proclamation was nothing more than one more piece of gossip about "murder and arson leading to recruitment and amnesty." Yet while the layman watches the spectacle, the expert sees the craft; for those with a mind to pay attention, the proclamation was a heavy bombshell... such as the various spies throughout Fuzhou City.

And so, that very day in Fuzhou City, many more fast ships set out for various destinations.

The appearance of this proclamation could be said to formally extract the "completely ignorant" authorities from the Zheng Zhilong affair. Moreover, the proclamation also delivered a final verdict on the Zheng Zhilong incident from a side angle: whether you're dead or not, this old man isn't using you anymore — we're striking the gongs and drums to start anew.

After this, matters became simple: they only needed to wait a little while longer, and then the "Dayuan righteous men," having been "shocked to learn" that Xiong was openly recruiting worthies, could formally come to the Fuzhou Official Dock and, under the gaze of countless eyes, go to the Grand Coordinator's Office to surrender to the court and join Lao Xiong, receiving the official seal of Coastal Defense Mobile Corps Commander.

Now the tale splits in two. Let us speak of Du Dewei, who, after bidding farewell to Zhang Dongdong and the others, returned by boat to his own fleet at East Luo Island and began arranging the surrender to the court.

He first summoned his core trusted followers one after another to his flagship to unify their thinking, after which the trusted followers worked through the night to persuade the others. Once this groundwork was laid, the next morning, a recruitment and amnesty conference attended by all the major headmen was convened on the flagship.

The conference's purpose was to unify thinking and turn toward the light. Of course, if anyone truly did not wish to eat government grain, they could take a share of the family assets and leave.

... Among pirates, the comings and goings, gatherings and partings were simply too common, so situations where a disagreement led to smashing cups, sending signals, and cutting people down practically never happened. Everyone was a major shareholder in the fleet; if someone wanted to withdraw their stake, giving them a bit of silver to leave was fine — who knew, in a couple of days everyone might gather together again to do business.

So Du Dewei's goal for today was: keeping the majority of the people would be victory.

Matters developed fairly smoothly. Amid an atmosphere where a gang of his direct-line subordinates passionately declared their resolve and spoke of the future, most of those who drifted with the current raised no objections — besides, these people had long known Du Dewei's purpose in coming to Fuzhou.

The only two old hands of the rivers and lakes unwilling to accept recruitment and amnesty also privately explained their intentions to the Great Boss afterward.

This kind of situation was very easy to handle: Du Dewei promptly took out some assets from the wealth stored on the flagship and sent them off, and everyone parted on good terms — these two men would take their silver and followers, and early the next morning, aboard their own ships, would go their separate ways from the main force.

The next morning, one hour after dispatching a signal ship, the Du fleet, totaling 18 vessels, formally set sail from East Luo Island, heading toward Fuzhou. And the Transmigrators, who had long been prepared, once the targets entered the Min River Estuary, sent out a blessing ship fitted with a propeller to go meet them.

When the pirates saw the strange ship that, after its sails were lowered, could still maneuver freely around the fleet, a great uproar immediately broke out. Of course, since the heavy machine guns aboard the ship were not used, the pirates ultimately still did not know its true power, and so when the 18 assorted vessels entered the Matsu Naval Fortress, the pirates began to kick up a fuss.

In the understanding of most pirates, aside from wearing numbered vests and collecting monthly pay, recruitment and amnesty should be no different from joining a gang... so when everyone saw the large number of kun-haired soldiers on the shore holding strange firearms, they first grew a bit uneasy.

Next came outright panic. There was no scene of the whole gang standing at the prows to pay distant respects to the new boss, followed by the boss bestowing wine, meat, and reward silver: a large force of soldiers had already formed a human wall on the dock, and a huge voice, coming from who knew where, was sternly ordering everyone to line up and disembark.

So panic was inevitable.

Several hot-tempered headmen drew their knives on the spot and loudly ordered the ships to turn around: this lord wasn't playing along anymore.

But before their words had faded, the several agitators standing at the prows were shot into hornets' nests by the soldiers on shore with a chaotic volley of gunfire, and several people in the circle around them were also shot dead.

After that, everyone became obedient.

And so the "surrender acceptance" ceremony formally commenced: the pirates first walked through a wall of bayonets, their weapons ordered to be tossed aside. Next came identity registration: a row of clerical staff sitting behind a long table had long been waiting there.

After offering up a few more heads, the unruly pirates, under the tutelage of bayonets and rifle butts, quickly learned to queue. As the ships successively docked, the guests soon formed long lines.

After the simple registration was complete, came the Transmigrators' mandatory bathing project.

After bathing, receiving new uniforms, and then registering their personal belongings, the "recruits" were herded into dormitories spread with brand-new straw mats.

Next came screening.

The pirate recruits, totaling 1,100 men, would be sifted and filtered layer by layer over the next several days. Those who could ultimately remain in the Mawei Barracks would be at most half the total number: the middle-aged and elderly pirates, along with promising soldier material, would all be picked out and sent to Dayuan.

And the remaining men would, while learning rules and skills in the barracks, wait for newcomers — in the future, more pirates would arrive here, and crewmen dispatched from Dayuan would also come to be mixed into their ranks.