The stewards of the four major families came out of the shogunate headquarters and went to the City God's Temple helplessly to discuss the next countermeasures.
At this time, someone was already waiting at the Chenghuang Temple. It was none other than Yan Shifan, the only son of Yan Shoufu.
The major families in Ningbo City have always been xenophobic, but they are no longer so xenophobic towards Yan Shifan.
Because in the past two times when the major families were confused, Yan Shifan appeared like a beacon, pointing out the way forward.
For example, the "enemy advances and we retreat" strategy proposed by Yan Shifan last time has also been proven to be effective.
After Qin Zhongtang entered Ningbo, he also sent his officers and soldiers to patrol and suppress local soldiers everywhere, but all ended in vain.
Until now, under the high pressure of Qin Zhongtang, the rural soldiers still exist on the ground of Ningbo Prefecture, providing the final support to the local wealthy families, for which Yan Shifan played an indispensable role.
After everyone was seated, Yan Shifan took the initiative to ask: "Then Qin Dewei will definitely not be able to get in, what do you want to do next?"
Yang Meihuang, an old country squire who was most familiar with Yan Shifan, said vaguely: "Thousands of children gathered for the three-day backyard examination, and I wanted to let Qin Dewei feel the local people's feelings."
The level of education in various parts of the Ming Dynasty was very unbalanced. In areas with developed education where literary styles flourished, it was normal for thousands of people to take the exam to admit scholars at one time. Ningbo Prefecture was such a place.
With so many reading seeds gathered, if someone with intentions creates trouble, it will be difficult for officials to deal with it. After all, they cannot suppress it violently like ordinary people.
What Old Squire Yang said about "feeling the hearts of the people" was actually to create some trouble for Qin Dewei.
Yan Shifan shook his head first, and then nodded, "This can be done, but if you expect to use this to make Qin Dewei stumble, it is impossible."
Zhang Shixing from the Zhang family said: "Otherwise, what else can we do?"
Yan Shifan responded: "If you want to target Qin Dewei, you must target the key aspects! As for the details, no matter how much you target, they will not have a decisive effect!"
Zhang Shixing asked again: "What are the key aspects?"
Yan Shifan replied: "That depends on what Qin Dewei's mission and responsibilities are. As we all know, the imperial court sent Qin Dewei to the southeast, and his main task was nominally to quell the Japanese.
So only if there is a problem in this area, it will be a fatal problem for Qin Dewei, and then it will be easier to deal with him from the court level!"
"Are we just going to resign ourselves to fate and wait for Qin Dewei to have problems?" Someone else questioned.
Yan Shifan said quietly: "If you don't want to accept fate and use human power to change your destiny, it's not impossible. It depends on whether you are brave enough."
Everyone could feel it intuitively, but they were afraid that what Yan Shifan was going to propose was not a serious method.
Yang Meihuang looked at the others and said in a deep voice: "Master Yan, if you have any ideas, just say it! There are only a few people here, so we can trust it and won't spread it."
After Yan Shifan thought about it for a moment, he said, "I heard that you guys have always been in contact with Shuangyu Island? Immediately send someone to Shuangyu Island in the East China Sea, or some other island!"
Zhang Shixing said doubtfully: "What are you going to do?"
Yan Shifan continued: "This year's Japanese pirates are coming soon, and these batches of Japanese pirates must first recuperate and replenish themselves on Shuangyu Island and other islands, and also inquire about land news.
And these Japanese pirates must have close ties with the forces on Shuangyu Island, not to mention that there are probably nearly a thousand Japanese Japanese who live on Shuangyu Island."
When everyone heard this, they had vaguely guessed what Yan Shifan was thinking, and sure enough, they heard Yan Shifan say again:
"I ask you to immediately send people to Shuangyu Island or other larger islands to plan and contact in advance and find middlemen who can communicate with the Japanese pirates.
Then you can make an agreement with the Japanese pirates to find a harbor near Ningbo City, and then escort the Japanese pirates ashore! Then instruct these Japanese pirates to attack Ningbo City!"
Zhang Shixing said in astonishment: "Qin Dewei is in Ningbo City with thousands of soldiers and horses. What can a few Japanese pirates do?"
Yan Shifan laughed a few times and said, "First, we will lead hundreds of Japanese pirates to loot outside the city. Qin Dewei will definitely send troops to encircle and suppress them. Qin Dewei may even personally supervise the formation. This is his responsibility.
This is to move the tiger away from the mountain! Then we should open the city gates in other directions to welcome another group of Japanese pirates to enter the city!
I don’t need to say anything more next, right? Qin Dewei, as the governor of the territory, personally sat in Ningbo, but allowed a large number of Japanese pirates to enter the city and cause chaos. How much guilt is this?
Even if it is not a loss of land, it is at least a loss of opportunity! Who can cover up for Qin Dewei in the court?"
The Ming Dynasty was quite harsh on the officials who defended the territory. If the officials who defended the territory lost their territory, it would be almost the most serious crime.
Having said this, Yan Shifan finally stopped, picked up the tea cup and drank tea, while waiting for the reactions of others.
It has to be said that Yan Shifan's proposal to "lead the wolf into the house" had a great impact on everyone.
Except for Yang Meihuang, who was mentally prepared, everyone else was stunned for a moment, and then quickly made calculations in their minds.
After waiting for a while, Yang Meihuang asked the others: "Although this is not a good idea, there is really no other way.
If we want to deal with Qin Dewei and continue to maintain the dignity of our families, we have to take a different approach. Let's talk about it, do you do it or not?"
Then Yang Meihuang added: "If you are willing to do it, please stay and discuss the plan together; if you are not willing to do it, please leave. In the future, we will not work together if we have different paths."
Zhang Shixing expressed his position and said: "The four of us have always been in the same spirit, advancing and retreating together!"
Thinking of the bleak prospect of being suppressed by Qin Dewei, the other two families also responded: "Let's advance together and retreat together!"
According to Brother Yang, if you refuse to participate this time, you will be excluded in the future, which is not good.
The connection between the wealthy families in coastal areas and maritime forces has existed for a long time, otherwise the smuggling trade would have no basis.
As long as you are careful and do not leave any direct evidence, there is nothing wrong with "leading the wolf into the house".
Seeing that the other three families had expressed their stance, Yang Meihuang said, "Since everyone is willing to advance and retreat together, then don't hesitate and send people out today!"
Our Yang family and Lu family sent people to Shuangyu Island, and the Zhang family and Tu family sent people to other islands to contact as many Japanese pirates as possible!
I have set a standard here. Each family must contact at least 500 Japanese pirates and then obey orders!"
Someone else asked: "What if we can't contact so many Japanese pirates?"
Yan Shifan, who was quiet for a while, answered: "If there is no truth, how can there be no falsehood?
Are the four majestic families still unable to recruit enough people? It doesn’t really matter if it’s true or false, as long as people think it’s a Japanese pirate!”
Someone else asked: "Do we still need to cause trouble in the college examination?"
Yang Meihuang replied: "Everything else that can be done must still be done, and it would be good to add one more charge to Qin Dewei!
There is always the effect of adding up a little to make a big sum, and when you finally calculate the general ledger, you will have one more chip.
Besides, it can also involve Qin Dewei’s energy, so that Qin Dewei can’t take care of anything else for the time being, so why not?”
After the matter was agreed upon, the four major families dispersed.
Three days later, when the sky was dark, more than a thousand children gradually gathered towards the examination courtyard located in the northeast of the city.
Under normal circumstances, grassroots examinations are held in government offices. However, places like Ningbo Prefecture, where education and culture are developed and examinations are large, often have separate examination halls.
A dozen of the leading figures in the student team have already completed the series connection. Just waiting for the door of the examination hall to open, two to three hundred people will start making noises on the grounds of "unfair examination".
After all, there were rumors that candidates with the four surnames Yang, Lu, Zhang, and Tu would not be admitted to this college examination, and the examiner Qin Zhongtang has been unwilling to refute the rumors directly.
After daybreak, the door of the examination hall was only opened through a crack. Hu Zongxian, the censor in charge of examination room discipline, came out and announced to everyone: "Because the paper is not ready, the examination will be postponed for two days!"
There was a lot of discussion among the candidates for a while. If it was only postponed for two days, it would not be a big deal to most candidates.
Even if you have to wait several days for the results after taking the exam, it’s just a two-day delay.
But for those who deliberately caused trouble, it seemed like they were in vain. They didn't know whether to continue the launch today as originally planned or postpone it to two days later.
The managers of the four major families and the heads of several other families gathered at the Chenghuang Temple today to "supervise the war."
After the news came, everyone was confused and wondered what Qin Zhongtang was up to.
I went to the shogunate station to inquire again, but received news that Qin Zhongtang took a large number of soldiers and horses out of the city early in the morning before dawn to practice firearms. I wonder who was unlucky this time.
Anyway, Qin Zhongtang has been humiliating local wealthy families and blatantly damaging the face of major families in the name of practicing firearms several times recently. The local gentry seems to be a little accustomed to this.
"I'm crazy! It's so inexplicable!" Yang Meihuang, the leading figure among the squire, couldn't help but curse.
At this time, Qin Zhongtang, who was cursed, had arrived at Dinghaiwei, one of the three sea guards in Ningbo Prefecture.
In fact, Dinghaiwei is not far from Ningbo City. It is the closest coast to Ningbo City. It can be called the maritime gateway of Ningbo City. It is a two-hour journey from Ningbo City to Dinghaiwei.
Qin Zhongtang stood on the pier of Shuizhai, scanning the more than 20 warships that had started to set off. At the same time, he asked General Lu Ti who came from Fujian: "How sure are you?"
Before today, there were only a few people who knew about the plan to attack Shuangyu Island, and Lu Bo was one of the insiders.
Others thought that Lu Bor came from Fujian with his troops to help Qin Zhongtang deal with the local soldiers. Even the two thousand Fujian soldiers thought so.
To this day, Qin Zhongtang personally came to Dinghaiwei and directly issued the order to attack Shuangyu Island, and allowed the officers and soldiers to plunder for one day!
Hearing Qin Zhongtang's inquiry, Lu Borang replied loudly: "Zhongtang has done his best to create such a good opportunity! Xiaguanan dares to look forward and backward. He is distracted and thinks about how certain he is, so he can only move forward bravely!"
Lu Boring was partly flattering and partly telling the truth. The two chief leaders of Shuangyu Island were not here, and there were internal help on the island. If such a good opportunity could not be taken, then the general would really be incompetent.
Qin Dewei waved his hand and said: "You can get on the boat too! I will lend you firearms, ten heavy cannons, and thirty light muskets. If you still return without success, you don't have to do it anymore!"
But one thing is, you are not allowed to set fire to fire. Except for the pirate leaders from the Ming Dynasty, you are not allowed to kill prisoners indiscriminately! Try to capture as many people alive as possible, especially Japanese and Westerners!"
