On the second day of the Lunar New Year, while the people of South Zhili and Zhejiang were still immersed in festive celebrations, Xu Hai and his band of Japanese pirates launched a near-total assault. They split into dozens of groups, varying in size, and swept into South Zhili and northern Zhejiang, engaging in rampant burning, killing, and plundering.
To avoid a fruitless raid during the New Year, the pirates had scouted their targets in advance, relying on intelligence from traitorous insiders to select their victims.
They typically chose wealthy villages and towns teeming with prosperous households—places that were easy to attack.
This time, roughly 80% of the pirates poured into South Zhili, while only about 20% targeted northern Zhejiang.
“Damn it, why have so many of our Zhejiang informants gone silent?!” cursed Maye as he led his group of pirates. “When that bastard Zhu ordered people to take refuge in the cities, fine, but now it’s the New Year—people have to go home to celebrate, don’t they? Damn it, these festive days are the perfect time to strike, but without informants feeding us information, we’re stuck!”
Xu Hai’s face darkened as he replied, “It’s all thanks to that bastard Zhu’s ‘Ten Households Plaque and Mutual Responsibility Law.’ Our informants are scared stiff! They’ve turned into shrinking turtles, too afraid to contact or respond to us!”
“A few days ago, I heard Zhu Ping’an was pushing this ‘Ten Households Law’ in Zhejiang. I didn’t take it seriously, thinking Zhu’s tyrannical collective punishment would spark outrage and curses from the people, giving us a chance to recruit more collaborators. Who would’ve thought this law was aimed at our informants?! If Zhu Ping’an doesn’t die, we’ll never have peace!” Maye spat, furious at how devastating Zhu Ping’an’s law had been to their operations.
“It’s not just the informants,” Xu Hai growled, grinding his teeth.
“What else is there?” Maye asked, stunned. He had only seen the impact on their informants, not the broader picture.
“Zhu Ping’an’s ‘Ten Households Law’ is designed to cut us off from the people! He’s severing our ties with the commoners, blocking our ears, and blinding our eyes. This is pulling the rug out from under us—draining the lake to catch the fish! If this goes on, we’ll become fish trapped in a dry pond in Zhejiang!” Xu Hai said gravely.
“What?! That’s serious!” Maye’s jaw dropped, and he hurriedly asked, “What do we do? We can’t just sit here and let Zhu Ping’an drain our lake and trap us!”
“For now, we stick to the list provided by our remaining informants and plunder enough for a fat New Year! After the festivities, on the seventh day, we’ll gather our elite forces and wreak havoc in northern Zhejiang!”
“Zhu Ping’an thinks he can enforce his ‘Ten Households Law,’ scare the people with collective punishment, and stop them from colluding with us? On the seventh, we’ll target three villages that strictly follow his law—wipe them out, leave no one alive, let blood flow like rivers! Then, we’ll pick a county that’s a model of compliance, storm it, and slaughter, burn, and loot to our hearts’ content! We’ll also settle some of the blood debt from the Suzhou siege—consider it collecting interest!”
“They think following the ‘Ten Households Law’ will save them? The better they comply, the harder we’ll hit their villages!”
“After the massacre, we’ll spread the word: anyone who follows Zhu Ping’an’s law is begging for death!”
“Zhu’s law might punish one unit of ten households at most. We’ll slaughter entire villages—not just people, but every chicken and dog!”
“Let’s see if the people still dare to follow his ‘Ten Households Law’! Let’s see how Zhu Ping’an’s precious law holds up then!”
Xu Hai sneered sinisterly, drawing his katana and pointing it toward northern Zhejiang, his killing intent palpable.
“Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! The people are scared, aren’t they? Let’s see if they’re more afraid of death! Anyone who follows the ‘Ten Households Law’ is our enemy—we’ll slaughter their families, their villages!” Maye nodded enthusiastically, inspired by Xu Hai’s plan.
“Let them choose!”
“Lord Xu, Lord Maye, you promised to take us to sack a county today. After we loot it, we’ll set sail to report to our lord, requesting him to send a grand army to join forces with you for a massive campaign!” Ryuzoji Nobutake said eagerly, completely unconcerned about the Ten Households Law.
“Forget ten or a hundred households! Once our lord sends his army, we’ll unite our forces, and no one will stand in our way! What plaque can withstand a single slash?!” Matsuura Shimazaburo added dismissively.
They had been in the Ming Dynasty for ten or fifteen days, pillaging and killing wherever they went, meeting no real resistance. Even the wealthiest villages and towns had few who dared fight back, allowing the pirates to slaughter and ravage at will. The few Ming soldiers they encountered either fled at the sight of them or scattered after a single charge.
To them, the Ming people were lambs to be slaughtered, and the Ming soldiers were a ragtag mob, utterly ineffective.
Their elite Japanese warriors could take on ten Ming soldiers each, and even their foot soldiers could handle five. The Ming forces were no match.
Once their lord sent a grand army, it would be a crushing, dimensional blow, easily shattering the Ming defenses and seizing their lands.
The Ming Dynasty was vast, dozens of times larger than Japan, and unimaginably wealthy—thousands of times richer than their homeland. A single Ming village was nearly as prosperous as a Japanese city. If their lord could seize the Jiangnan region, with its staggering wealth, he could swiftly dominate Japan!
After unifying Japan, their lord could lead an elite samurai army to conquer the Ming Dynasty, achieving an unprecedented global conquest!
And they, the vanguard who had paved the way in the Ming, would surely earn their lord’s trust and rewards, becoming great daimyo second only to him, their names etched in Japanese history, revered for generations!
“Rest assured, this time we’ve gathered eight thousand troops. We’ll sail along the coast, up the Yangtze River, to a county called Jiangyin, under the jurisdiction of Changzhou Prefecture, a key hub in the wealthy Jiangnan region. That’s our target today! We have an informant in Jiangyin who reports that the county magistrate is hosting a banquet for the local gentry and prominent families, leaving their defenses vulnerable. Today, we take Jiangyin in one fell swoop!”
“It’s the New Year, isn’t it? Let Jiangyin be our New Year’s gift to your lord, a token of our sincerity,” Xu Hai said with a slight smile to Ryuzoji Nobutake and Matsuura Shimazaburo, promising to deliver Jiangyin as a festive tribute.
Maye hesitated, as if to speak, but ultimately stayed silent, tacitly agreeing to Xu Hai’s plan.
“Lord Xu, Lord Maye, you are most generous! On behalf of my lord, I thank you for your kindness. With this haul, I’m absolutely confident I can persuade my lord to send a grand army to join you in this grand endeavor,” Ryuzoji Nobutake said, bowing deeply.
“Thank you, Lord Xu, Lord Maye!” Matsuura Shimazaburo also bowed in gratitude.
