Wang Zhi had always called himself the King of East China Sea. This title was the title of rebellion and thieves. Of course, it cannot be used as a serious title now. Moreover, people in Fujian hate pirates the most, especially when the five thieves at sea broke into Zhangzhou, which made them die in many ways. The pirates were burning, killing, looting and doing all kinds of evil. Wang Zhi was able to recruit him successfully. One was the so-called "Loyalty and Zhi" name of this person. The other was that Wang Zhi's troops did not do much evil on the coast and only plundered at sea. Kang Tianqi, who was stationed in Japan, mainly engaged in the sea and in Japan and Luzon. They really robbed Zhangzhou, killed people and robbed people, and left blood debts were the King of South China Sea Pu Xingfeng, the King of East China, Liu Dan, the King of West China, Yan Qi, and the subordinates, plus the thief of Qishan, Chen Yutai, who really hated him in Fujian, and it was a scolding.

Wang Zhi is now the General of the Left Guard and the Jiedushi of Jinghai. The Jiedushi of the Great Wei was in his actual position in his early years, and was a real power vassal state controlled by local military and political affairs. His status was far above the current pacifier. Later, the Emperor Taizu of the Great Wei gradually regained military power and financial power, and the Jiedushi gradually became a vacant position, which was the highest among the foreign officials of the military. In the capital, the Taiwei and the Jiedushi outside, this was the peak of military generals and the highest honor pursued by the martial arts.

The strange thing is that Wang Zhi is not a false title, but a real position.

His 14,000 subordinates and hundreds of ships, plus dozens of nearby islands such as Pingdao, although there are less than 10,000 people and no one can talk about the people under the rule, but with Wang Zhi, the flanks of Donghu are threatened. In addition, the Bohai Kingdom dared not easily turn to Donghu... This is Wang Zhi's biggest role, and it is also a powerful tool for Liu Zhiyuan to come up with to persuade his colleagues.

Wang Zhi rebelled, and the Jinhai from Jingji to Denglai were threatened. The imperial court took at least ten imperial guards to cooperate with the Xiang army to defend. There was no place to land in the vast sea. This was necessary to defend against it, and it would be twice the result with half the effort, and it would cost 2 million yuan more a year.

The main root is that the limited cavalry of the imperial court was in Yanji Hebei, and there were not many established cavalry even in Yongxing Army and Qinfeng Road.

In order to prevent Wang Zhi from suffering, he had to get at least two or three elite cavalrymen of the army and had to run for life. This price is really unbearable.

Wang Zhishishi taught that Donghu and Bohai Kingdom were threatened by it. The imperial court gave 200,000 jin of money and 200,000 shi of grain a year, which would allow Wang Zhi to defend the northern waters and relieve the threat to the northern coast. At the same time, a small number of merchant ships and a large number of fishermen in the north could also obtain quite stable conditions and no longer worry about being haunted by pirates at all times.

It is precisely because of so many advantages that the emperor and Liu Zhiyuan's proposals received support from a lot of court officials. At the end of last year, Wang Zhi finally obtained the edict and was actually granted the title of Jiedushi.

His honors, ranks and actual positions are all second-rank military positions. The honors are comparable to Xu Zixian, but in fact they are much higher than Xu Zixian. Although the group training envoy is practical, it is equivalent to the sequence of officials in the court, and the difference between the fifth-rank and the second-rank is also very far.

Although Zhang Huchen and others were not very willing, the imperial court had to respect the titles and could only come over to pay tribute.

"Forget it, forget it." Wang Zhi looked at the people in front of him and waved with a low interest: "Although I have not done any evil in Fujian, I have not been a good person over the years. Prince, you kill pirates, everyone around you applauded. As soon as my name came out, you see that they didn't make any noise, it was very boring."

Wang Zhi looked at Xu Zixian and invited him, "I'll ask the prince to come to the inn to talk, how about it?"

Xu Zixian didn't quite understand why Wang Zhi expressed obvious kindness after meeting him?

Although the one he killed was not a pirate, he was named a pirate, and he also had a battle with the pirates in Qishan, as well as the pirates behind him. I wonder why Wang Zhi didn't mind at all?

Xu Zixian smiled and said, "Why dare the elder refuse if he has an invitation? Since this is the case, the boy will just follow the elder."

Wang Zhi went ashore from Jinhai Port to the capital, and there were many entourages.

In addition to a large number of servants and singing girls, there are more than 100 boxes of luggage, including many rare items such as gold, silver, antiques, calligraphy, paintings, and tools.

Even the boxes that place these utensils are made of precious wood, and you can tell at a glance that they are of great value.

Wang pointed to these boxes and said to Xu Zixian: "This time I went to Beijing, I prepared more than 200,000 yuan in wealth. There is no way. I went to sea as a pirate at the age of fourteen. Now I am fifty-eight. I have been on the sea for more than 40 years. From a pawn to a leader, I have committed a lot of evil in decades and have earned a lot. This time I have a rare opportunity to enter Beijing. I have to spend some money to stuff the dog hole. Otherwise, I will still be troubled in the future."

Xu Zixian was silent, Wang Zhi, Pu Xingfeng, Kang Tianqi and others were all giant thieves who dominated the sea, with more than 10,000 subordinates, and even dominated the other side, just like the king of a small country.

These people have the strength of a king, but act in the style of pirates. Although merchant ships can pay certain benefits to obtain the protection of pirates and pass through the sea, most of the time, they still feel more comfortable plundering ships.

Looting wealth from hostile forces along the coast, or even plundering human trafficking, these things are all without psychological pressure. As long as you have money, you can do anything without any psychological burden.

In this way, these thieves at sea have more than one million yuan in net worth. Each of the five thieves at sea has more than tens of millions of yuan in net worth.

For example, Wang Zhi is estimated to have a net worth of about 20 million yuan. In addition to gold, silver and copper coins, there must be a lot of rare antique calligraphy and paintings that he has gained in the past few decades. When it comes to wealth, I am afraid that the emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty is far behind and cannot catch up with Wang Zhi and others.

The process of Wang Zhi was extremely difficult. There were many officials who opposed the recruitment of Wang Zhi. Now it seems that they were reluctant to accept it with the overall situation. However, those who are familiar with the operation of the government of the Great Wei Dynasty knew that there were still many troubles below, and they might be repeated at any time.

There are so many benefits to recruit Wang Zhi. Anyone with a discerning eye can see how important Wang Zhi is to the Great Wei court at this time. However, for all forces in the capital, people like Wang Zhi can only look at whether it is useful to his own side and whether it is useful to the Great Wei. They can only be placed in a secondary position.

If the left prime minister Han Zhong wanted to recruit him to appease this time, then Liu Zhiyuan would definitely firmly oppose it. The emperor of Chongde would only follow Liu Zhiyuan's intentions and would not have any clear opinions.

This is how the emperor was. He relied on the court officials when he trusted the court officials. The left prime minister was supported by the Emperor Chongde. For more than ten years, the emperor helped the left prime minister to control half of the country in the court. When the emperor felt embarrassed and dangerous, he spared no effort to start supporting Liu Zhiyuan.

For such a big event, the emperor will not talk about the general trend and reason. The greatest reason is to fight against the court.

Xu Zixian could understand the helplessness in Wang Zhi's words. After all, he was a maritime overlord who was a powerful person. After he was old, he could only compromise in order to seek a retreat and manage his youngest son's future... He has always been the only one who robs others of others, but this time, he wanted to take out the stolen wealth with a smile and give it to the officials in the court. All he wanted was not to suddenly jump out and attack. Isn't this a "piggy hole"?

Xu Zixian had no sympathy for Wang Zhi. Is his money easy to come by? Even if Wang Zhi was responsible, every copper coin was covered with the blood and sweat of ordinary people. It was only 200,000 guan. What was it? If Xu Zixian could make the decision, he would have to let this old man move 20 million guan to enrich the treasury. Only then could he be considered atonement for his sins and could be washed away.

"Mingda sits." Wang Zhi was serving many people, with more than ten beautiful concubines alone. Although the building was a temporary residence, it was also decorated in a magnificent manner.

Xu Zi first followed Wang Zhi in, took a few glances at the beauty, and took a casual look at the dazzling array of rare weapons, and sat calmly opposite Wang Zhi.

"Mingda is not an ordinary person." Wang Zhi's eyes were quite sharp and his words were quite straightforward. He said to Xu Zixian: "The people who entered my room either stared at the concubines or looked at the rare antiques. The greed could not be concealed. The word "wealth and sex" could not suppress their desires. Or they were just false Taoism, who avoided their eyes and dared not look at them. They were like Dabin, and their trembling appearance as corrupt scholars, which was annoying. A man's husband should look at him calmly and suppress his desires in his heart, so that he could accomplish great things."

"The General is too rewarded." Xu Zixian smiled indifferently, bowed his body, and said, "I am just an ordinary marquis waiting for the title of preaching. I am ashamed of the general's words."

"Which ordinary marquis can train two thousand elite soldiers, defeat 4,000 bandits in one battle, and behead a thousand levels?" Wang Zhi said: "Don't think I'm testing something... When I enter Beijing, I'm certainly trembling and walking on thin ice. Even if I am Mingda, I'm afraid I have to be careful."

"The General is saying that I have a dispute with the Fujian Road Pacifier Lin Douyao, and the commander Han Bingzhong, Hu Shang and Pu Shougao?" Xu Zixian smiled and said, "Mr. Lin, Lord Han is just making trouble. The Pu family hates me for cutting off their financial path. It is really necessary to guard against it. But the capital is in a serious place, and there is nothing to worry about under the feet of the emperor..."

"I brought two old brothers this time, and led 200 people respectively, and 400 governors into the capital, which is not too far beyond the reach." Wang Zhi smiled meaningfully. He knew that Xu Zixian had no relationship with him, so of course it was impossible to get anything when he met. He tried Xu Zixian, and why didn't Xu Zixian want to mess with him?

But the two of them had a few words, but they had already communicated.

What the two were worried about was of course the main force represented by the Left Prime Minister Han Zhong and the Left Prime Minister.

The great power made the emperor look at him and tossed and turned and uneasy. Xu Zixian and Lin Douyao and Han Bingzhong showed signs of fighting were quite obvious. In the battle of Nan'an River Beach, Xu Zixian won first as a delegation envoy. When reporting, he complained to local officials in Fujian. It was quite obvious that he was attacking Lin Douyao and Han Bingzhong.

Lin and Han also had their own reactions. Lin Douyao's pacification envoy reported that it was several days late before he arrived at the capital. He had to ask for punishment for the imperial guards not leaving the city in time. Han Bingzhong made a counterattack and bluntly said that Xu Zixian relied on his identity as a marquis of the country and did not ask for help in a hurry. Although he won, he disturbed the local area and was rampant. It was a disaster for Nan'an, Fuzhou...

Of course, the memorial was not just two sides. The inspector Xiao Zan seemed to be in a position, but he vaguely agreed with Xu Zixian's more domineering statement.

The case involved in theft, Zheng Liqi, the envoy of the punishment, also submitted a memorial. While praising Xu Zixian, he also attacked the Fuzhou garrison and delayed his military opportunity. Han Bingzhong was responsible for not being blamed. Zheng Liqi was also a senior official. While submitting the memorial, he also impeached Han Bingzhong. Although Lin Douyao did not attack Lin Douyao, it was quite obvious that Lin Douyao, the appeasement envoy was not dealing with effectively.

The prefect Yang Shiwei did not have a clear judgment on the facts and was obviously unwilling to take sides, but it also confirmed the fact that the Nan'an victory and the imperial guards fought later.

In addition, the King of Qi made a memorial, and he was very dissatisfied with the imperial guards and the wing army. As soon as the King of Qi's memorial arrived, the matter was probably understood by the officials.

King Zhao did not submit a memorial this time, and this matter has no direct relationship with the Grand Governor's Office. It would be enough if the King of Qi submitted a memorial.

Of course, this is an obvious reason. In fact, this time the imperial guards and the wing army reacted slowly, and there was no way to argue. Han Bingzhong's memorial seemed to be straightforward, but in fact it was just a mess. Anyway, it depends on the forces behind it. If Han Zhong just wanted to support his own heart, then Han Bingzhong's nonsense could be used as a reason. If he wanted to abandon his horse and protect the car, he could just save Lin Douyao, who seemed rational and generous, and throw away Han Bingzhong's small pawn...

There are many choices here, it depends on how Han Zhong decides.

But no matter what, the dispute between Xu Zixian and the left prime minister has become obvious. This time when he entered Beijing, Wang Zhi was right to judge that Xu Zixian should take Han Zhong as his enemy.

It’s easy to say about other things, but the most important thing is to protect yourself.

Wang Zhi was also worried that Han Zhong would earn him into Beijing and then solve the problem with force. Xu Zixian was also worried about his life. Can the two of them be considered natural allies?

As for the conflict between Xu Zixian and Liu Zhiyuan, in Wang Zhi's opinion, it was just a trivial matter. Pu Shougao was just a Hu Shang. It is not necessarily that Liu Zhiyuan gave up a rising star like Xu Zixian for a Hu Shang. For the sake of a Hu Shang, he was a powerful national marquis in Fujian?

Xu Zixian then suddenly realized that Wang Zhi's enthusiasm and directness should have been because he saw him with nearly 200 elite subordinates, so he took the initiative to extend an olive branch. This old fox was worried before entering Beijing. Looking at Yun Danfengqing's appearance, he was actually walking on thin ice... This is also a normal thing. Han Zhong is a powerful minister who has been in charge of the country for more than ten years. Not only has strong strength in the civil service system, but also in the Privy Council and the Imperial Army of the Beijing Camp.

Thirty years ago, if Wang Zhi only brought forty people, it would be the best choice to go to Beijing honestly.

But at this moment, without bringing hundreds of elite subordinates, Wang Zhi dared to enter Beijing at will?

"If I and Mingda can leave Beijing safely." Wang Zhi said: "I want to invite Mingda to Higashima to come."

Pingdao is a later generation of Peach Island, which is 40 square kilometers in size. It is the sea foundation that Wang Zhi has operated for more than ten years. The soil of this island is sandy and cannot be cultivated, so he can only plant grass. Originally, many people from the Bohai Kingdom grazed sheep on the island, and the sheep flocks were over 10,000. Later, Wang Shuiduo originally planned to settle the island, but later he found that the soil was not allowed, so he could only use the island as a base for storage and garrisons, and also used to slaughter ducks and sheep. It was the rear of the northern pirates who used it to rest and repair ships.

It borders Liaodong, which is controlled by Donghu, and the Bohai Kingdom, which occupies the peninsula. It can be shipped down from the mouth of the Yalu River. On the southeast are several important cities of the Bohai Kingdom. Wang Zhi bought pearls, ginseng, fur goods, and traded here, and made a lot of money.

Over the years, more than 10,000 people lived on Ping Island and built a large number of houses, which were much richer and more prosperous than ten years ago.

Of course, all the food is purchased by sea ships from the mainland and the Bohai Kingdom will also sell rice to Wang Zhi in order to ask him not to harass the wealthy southern land.

Wang Zhi took Ping Island as the core and occupied more than 20 coastal islands, large and small. In addition to the 14,000 pirate subordinates, there were still 30,000 to 40,000 islanders under Wang Zhi's territory and became his subordinates.

By this calculation, the population is not large, which is comparable to a town with a large population in Fuzhou. However, when it comes to the sea area controlled by Wang Zhi, the governor of Jinghai Army is considered to be consistent with the name and reality.

"It is also an honor for the general to invite him." Xu Zixian was also extremely curious about places like Hirashima. If a person can run such a foundation and become a powerful man, he will definitely have outstanding features.

Wang Zhi is also old. If he is now a prime age between the ages of thirty and forty, he will definitely not be able to support himself. If he can be the king overseas, why should he be wronged?

Even if the Wei Dynasty had civil strife and wars continued, it was not impossible for overseas forces like Wang Zhi to take advantage of the situation to gain greater territory and more benefits.

Ordinary civil officials of the Great Wei Dynasty were bound by the old ideas and historical heritage, and were always unwilling to face up to the present and are different from the old ones.

China's history is basically the history of the mainland's hegemony, and it has nothing to do with overseas.

However, Xu Zixian had a deep perception. Now it seems to be the arrival of a historical node of striving for the traditional land hegemony to the sea. Maritime trade is becoming more and more prosperous and developed. Who can dominate the sea at least is invincible, and it is even possible to achieve a hegemony cause, which is unknown.

He did not contempt or despise Wang Zhi at all, nor did he even reject Wang Zhi at all.

Pirates are a product of unique circumstances. In this year and within the next two or three hundred years, pirates will exist on the ocean. Including the British Empire, the most powerful sea empire in history, the process of its origin was that even the Queen, everyone was pirates and kept plundering the Spanish gold ships on the sea. This was the British's real first pot of gold.

Steam warships have always been everywhere on the sea, and large-scale piracy has gradually disappeared. However, even in modern society, when the most advanced warships are spread across the sea, small-scale and scattered piracy cannot be eliminated.

Today, pirates are in full swing and are still booming. How could Xu Zixian be so pedantic that he rejected or despised a pirate leader who had been circulating on the sea for many years?

Moreover, Wang Zhi did not do much evil after all. If he were an alien pirate like Pu Xingfeng, he would not know how many good people he killed and how many families he destroyed. Even if Xu Zixian had the interests of his consideration, he would not have disliked such people.

A real man can be a hero and reject political cleanliness, but he still needs to have a certain bottom line.

Many children regard ruthlessness and no bottom line as the basis for success. In fact, they have never thought that people who really have no record of success in history.

A person with no bottom line will have no bottom line, his subordinates will have no bottom line, he has no political allies to rely on, the people do not trust him, and his subordinates will be betrayed at any time, and a unified orthodox dynasty can always be established by people with no bottom line.

"Mingda is an interesting person..." Wang Zhi undoubtedly had his own source of information. He looked at Xu Zixian thoughtfully and said, "I have seen many people in my life. It was the first time I saw a person like Mingda. To be honest, when I was twenty years old, I did not have the mind and rudeness of Mingda."

"It's a last resort."

"It's a must, right." Wang Zhi laughed loudly, with loneliness and unwillingness in his smile. He stood up to see him off and said, "I have to do it too."

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Chapter completed!