After receiving Yan Song’s approval, Wang Shilang returned and shared the good news with everyone, then they drafted an official document regarding the rewards and punishments for the great victory at the sea sacrifice, handing it over to Eunuch Wang, who was waiting outside, to deliver it to Emperor Jiajing’s desk for review.
In the evening, before dinner, Emperor Jiajing flipped through the reward and punishment document, gave it a swift stroke of his vermilion brush, and approved it.
The next day, before dawn, two eunuchs, escorted by a team of factory guards, set off on horseback towards Jiangnan.
They were the imperial envoys tasked with announcing the rewards for the sea sacrifice victory.
By evening, the envoys arrived at Cangzhou in Hejian Prefecture, Beizhili Province, over four hundred li from the capital.
The station master at Cangzhou’s relay post immediately prepared the best rooms in the station for the envoys to stay in.
Hot water and wooden tubs were provided for the envoys to bathe and relieve the fatigue of their journey.
Then, dishes like stewed chicken in an iron pot, fried river fish, crucian carp tofu soup, and seasonal stir-fry were brought to the table for the envoys to enjoy.
Though it wasn’t a feast of rare delicacies, the hearty, farm-style flavours and generous portions left the travel-weary envoys quite satisfied.
While the envoys were dining, the Cangzhou relay station welcomed another group arriving from the south—six riders bearing the banner of an 800-li urgent dispatch.
These six were trusted aides sent by the Suzhou Prefect to report a victory, they had travelled day and night, sleeping only three hours a day and spending the rest on the road, reaching Cangzhou by the evening of their third day.
“Whoa!”
The Suzhou Prefect’s aide dismounted, stumbling from exhaustion but managing to steady himself by grabbing the reins.
“Brother Li, you’re too tired, let’s rest an extra hour tonight, or your body won’t hold up,” the five capable men behind him urged.
“No way, the Prefect stressed that the faster the victory report reaches the capital, the better, once we deliver it to the capital, we can rest properly then, it’s just one more day, we’ll stick to the usual plan—rest for three hours, set off before dawn, we’re already in Cangzhou, we’ll reach the capital by tomorrow evening.”
The Prefect’s aide shook his head, seeing the exhaustion on his companions’ faces, he added, “But you’ve got a point, we do need a proper rest, how about this—we spend some silver, get some hot water to bathe and unwind, then we feast on meat and fish.”
“Alright, we’ll follow Brother Li!” the five men cheered.
“Once we get to the capital and finish the job, we’ll rest well, heh, then we’ll each find a brothel girl and have a grand old time.”
“Heh heh, thanks, Brother Li!” Hearing this, the five men suddenly found renewed energy despite their fatigue.
The group entered the relay station, the Prefect’s aide pulled a silver ingot from his chest and tossed it to a station worker, saying, “Please pass this to the station master, ask him to prepare hot water and tubs for us to bathe, then set up a table with a big meat and fish feast.”
“Right away!” The worker deftly caught the silver, first showing them to their rooms and bringing a pot of hot tea to soothe their throats.
Then he scurried off to find the station master.
With silver paving the way, the six aides from the Suzhou Prefect soon got a table of stewed chicken in the station’s hall, though it was a notch below what the envoys received.
“I heard from the worker that you came from the south, where exactly in the south are you from?”
A factory guard, on the envoys’ orders, questioned the Prefect’s aide.
The moment the Prefect’s group entered the hall, they’d noticed the envoys, after all, they weren’t hiding their identities.
Eunuch robes and factory guards surrounding them—it was obvious they were from the capital on official business, not people to mess with.
“Reporting to the lord, my group comes from Suzhou, we’re here on orders from our Prefect to report a victory to the capital,” the Prefect’s aide replied respectfully.
“Heh, what a coincidence, Suzhou’s one of my destinations too, let me ask you, is Lord Zhu Ping’an stationed in Suzhou?” one of the eunuchs asked with interest upon hearing they were from Suzhou.
“You’re truly all-knowing, sir, Lord Zhu is indeed leading the Zhejiang army and stationed in Suzhou,” the Prefect’s aide flattered.
“Heh, sweet talker, let me ask you something else, you’re reporting a victory from Suzhou to the capital—what victory is it? Has Lord Zhu made another achievement?” The eunuch chuckled and pressed further.
“You really are omniscient, sir, a few days ago, forty thousand Japanese pirates attacked Suzhou, and we achieved a glorious victory, Lord Zhu Ping’an was instrumental in the Suzhou defence, first turning the tide to save Suzhou from collapse, then pursuing the pirates, repeatedly crushing them until only a few hundred battered remnants fled in disarray, even capturing one of their leaders alive, as for the specifics of the victory report, forgive me, I can’t go into detail with you, sir.”
The Prefect’s aide gave a brief rundown of Zhu Ping’an’s feats in the Suzhou defence.
The detailed victory report would only be revealed once he reached the capital.
“What?! True or false—forty thousand Japanese pirates attacked Suzhou, and Zhu Ping’an left only a few hundred stragglers?!”
“Annihilating thirty to forty thousand pirates in one battle—that’s too outrageous, since the founding of our Great Ming, we’ve never had such a stunning victory against the pirates?!”
The two eunuchs and the factory guard centurions at the table were stunned, asking in disbelief.
“Every word I’ve said is true, not a single lie, I was there for the entire Suzhou defence, saw it with my own eyes, not a shred of exaggeration, also, it wasn’t a single battle that wiped out thirty to forty thousand pirates—the pirate assault on Suzhou lasted several days, and Lord Zhu fought them over those days, with the most pirates killed on the first and last days.”
“On the final day, cleaning the battlefield, the pirate heads alone filled dozens of carts to the brim.”
The Prefect’s aide swore solemnly.
“Well, heh, looks like after we get back to the capital, we’ll need to make another trip to Suzhou,” the two eunuchs exchanged wry smiles.
“Hahaha, I can’t even imagine what the bigwigs in the capital will look like when they get this victory report, Lord Zhu wiping out a few hundred pirates in the sea sacrifice battle already had them agonizing over rewards for days, if this is real—thirty to forty thousand pirates gone—the officials at the Ministry of Personnel and other departments will be pulling their hair out in frustration, I can’t even picture it.”
“This is getting interesting.”
The factory guards at the table couldn’t help but chime in, clearly relishing the chaos to come, they loved a good spectacle.
The factory guards and civil officials had always been at odds, the guards were originally established to monitor the realm for the emperor, with a focus on keeping tabs on civil and military officials, suppressing them as a key force and enforcer in the emperor’s control of internal unrest.
Where there’s suppression, there’s resistance, the civil and military officials—especially the civil faction—fought back relentlessly, attacking the factory guards with everything they had, particularly through public opinion, waging a fierce propaganda war that painted the guards in the blackest light.
So, when there was drama among the civil officials, the factory guards were all too happy to watch the fireworks.
