In the early winter of the 31st year of Jiajing, Zhoushan Ligang was completed! An extremely wide port, a fortress with artillery, rows of trade markets, Portuguese churches, thousands of houses... ...
Everything is more glorious than the original Shuangyu Port.
On the day when Ligang was completed, Wang Zhi, the overlord of the sea and the uncrowned king of Japanese pirates, hosted a banquet for all the Japanese leaders at Ligang. Almost all the famous Japanese pirate leaders attended the banquet, whether they were directly under Wang Zhi, indirectly under Wang Zhi's jurisdiction, or not under Wang Zhi's jurisdiction and not under each other. Even the hostile Japanese pirates sent people to attend. For example, Xu Hai, although he did not attend the banquet in person, he also sent Toribayashi Saburo to celebrate with generous gifts.
The banquet venue was located in the open space in front of Ligang Wharf, and was covered with red carpets and many tables.
There were hundreds of Japanese pirate leaders, both big and small, who were seated in order of strength.
Wang Zhi sat in the most honorable seat at the banquet, displaying his ceremonial regalia as "Prince Hui" to the fullest. He wore a red robe with gilt embroidery and a golden python, a jade belt around his waist, and a five-eaved yellow umbrella with a golden top. Four beautiful maids served him at his side, and fifty sturdy guards in gold armor and silver helmets were arranged in a fan shape behind him.
"Everyone, today is the day when Li Port is completed. It is a great day for us, so I am inviting you all to a banquet to celebrate together."
Wang Zhi raised the golden cup, laughed heartily, and spoke to the Japanese pirates.
"Thank you, King Hui. It is thanks to your planning that we have a place like Ligang to stay."
"The leader is mighty, and we are blessed by him."
"Congratulations, Your Majesty."
"Congratulations, Chief Wang."
The pirate leaders at the banquet stood up and raised their glasses respectfully. They called Wang Zhi differently. Some called him the King of Hui, some called him the leader of the alliance, some called him the Great King, and some called him the Chief Wang... From the different names, it can be seen that the pirates were not united.
"Let us drink this cup of wine together today, and share the prosperity and wealth of maritime trade in the future." Wang Zhi looked at the Japanese pirate leader with satisfaction, raised the golden cup with high spirits, tilted his head back and drank the wine in the cup.
"Let's share the glory and wealth." The Japanese pirate leaders shouted, raised their glasses and drank them all.
"Everyone, please take a seat. Someone, call the dancers to entertain us." Wang Zhi asked the Japanese pirates to take a seat and asked someone to call the dancers.
Soon, a group of graceful Japanese women came on stage and swayed their waists at the banquet like willows swaying in the wind.
A group of unscrupulous Japanese pirates watched with envy, some of the bolder ones directly pulled the dancer into their arms and touched her all over. Wang Zhi laughed and did not stop them. Seeing this, the other Japanese pirates followed suit.
In a moment, the banquet became lively.
"Alliance leader, our Ligang will not suffer the disaster of Shuangyugang again, right?!" There was a Japanese pirate leader at the banquet who had experienced the disaster of Shuangyugang. The disaster on that day was still vivid in his mind. He said to Wang Zhi with some concern.
"He Laosan, you are overthinking it. Nowadays, whether it is Ningbo Prefecture, Shaoxing Prefecture, or Hangzhou Prefecture, they all tacitly allow us to run private markets, and the government has turned a blind eye to this."
"The day before yesterday, I took my subordinate Erlang to the streets of Suzhou Prefecture to buy a hundred pieces of cloth, but the Suzhou government didn't care."
"That's right, you're the only one who thinks too much! The older you get, the less courageous you become. It's really funny."
The banquet was in full swing when He Laosan poured a basin of cold water on it, and the Japanese pirates couldn't help but laugh at it.
"No, once bitten by a snake, you will be afraid of ropes for ten years. I personally experienced the disaster of Shuangyu Port. It was a river of blood."
He Laosan shook his head and smiled bitterly.
The other pirates laughed at what they heard. "This is a different time. Now the government has tacitly approved the private trade. I heard that many officials have proposed lifting the ban on sea trade. The common people in Fujian and Zhejiang are even more inclined to the private trade. There is a saying that goes, 'The general trend is the general trend.'"
"What He Lao San is worried about is not groundless. I personally experienced the incident at Shuangyu Port. If I had not escaped the disaster by luck, I would not have the opportunity to sit in front of you today."
Wang Zhi waved his hand to stop the chaos in the scene, pointed his finger at He Laosan, and spoke slowly.
The field fell silent for a moment.
"After all, the private market is just a small-scale operation and it is difficult for it to become a major force. Only when the Ming court opens up the port and opens up the market can we realize our grand ambitions."
Wang Zhi slowly glanced at the Japanese pirates, then looked out at the sea in the distance and said with a firm face.
"Open the port and open the city?!"
The Japanese pirates looked at each other in surprise. They did not expect that Wang Zhi’s ideal was so grand.
"That's right! It means opening the ports and opening up the market! Today, the world is ruled by maritime trade! Portuguese merchant ships travel thousands of miles to all the wild and barbarian lands in the ocean, and have already made a lot of money for the northern Manchus. The Ming Dynasty is the center of the world, with a population and wealth billions of times greater than that of the wild and barbarian lands. There are huge business opportunities and wealth here. As long as the ports are opened and the market is opened, we will have endless wealth and splendor!"
Wang Zhi spoke to the Japanese pirates in high spirits, describing to them a vision of a prosperous maritime trade.
The Japanese pirates couldn't help but feel jealous.
He Laosan and some calm Japanese pirates were cautious about the grand vision outlined by Wang Zhi.
The maritime ban is the national policy of the Ming Dynasty, how can we allow the port to be opened?!
"Haha, He Laosan, although your worries are not groundless, they are too pessimistic! Just as they said, maritime trade is driven by the general trend! You just mentioned Shuangyu Port, haha, yes, Zhu Wan destroyed Shuangyu Port and killed Li Guangtou and others, so what?! Zhu Wan was ignorant of the times and implemented a strict maritime ban with the Baojia system. As a result, he was killed by the scholars in Jiangsu and Zhejiang who were interested in maritime trade. From then on, the inspecting ministers were no longer established, and no one inside or outside the court dared to mention the maritime ban again! Moreover, look at Zhang Damao, He Dapao and others around you. They were the Fujian Navy who wiped out Shuangyu Port. After the battle of Shuangyu Port, when Zhu Wan was disbanding these pirate-catching ships, the court did not provide food and wages, which caused the Fujian Navy to mutiny, and most of the warships directly surrendered to my command. Zhang Damao, He Dapao and others were the centurions of the navy, and now they have become our people! There are also many officials who wrote letters to advise and lift the maritime ban... So, maritime trade is the general trend!"
"Not to mention, the year before last, I cooperated with the Jiangsu and Zhejiang authorities to capture the notorious pirates Lu Qi and Shen Jiu. Last year, I was entrusted by the Haidao Yamen to capture and kill Chen Sipan, and I made great contributions to maintaining order in the sea area."
"So, it's time. I have decided to ask the Ming court for trade and the opening of ports and markets tomorrow!"
"Now that the port is open and the market is open, everything is legal. The disaster at Shuangyu Port will never happen again! Our golden age is here!"
Wang Zhi was full of confidence, raised his wine glass, and spoke passionately to the Japanese pirates, as if he were a god. (To be continued)