Ming East India Company

At this moment, Feng Titing was so frightened that his face turned ashen. In his eyes, his choice to abandon Shilin and join the Eastern Depot was already an act of betraying his master and ancestors and losing his conscience.

If we can't even get a good price for this, then we'll really lose face and dignity.

What Feng Titing didn't know was that the Eastern Depot's spies had already discovered that Shi Xing had accepted bribes from the Korean envoy, and had already reported it to Wanli.

However, the Koreans' "money-spraying" campaign had such a wide-ranging impact that almost every official and deputy official in the capital received a copy.

Moreover, although Shi Xing had taken the money, he knew that there were some things he should say and some things he shouldn't say. He reported to Emperor Wanli in accordance with the law, so Wanli did not pursue the matter.

Seeing that Luo Sigong was about to kick him out, Feng Titing finally revealed his last trump card:

"Your subordinate has more information: Minister of War Shi Xing is plotting to embezzle military merits from Ryukyu..."

Listening to Feng Titing's report, Luo Sigong's wrinkles finally smoothed out; this was the "hard currency" he had been looking for...

Inside the Qianqing Palace, a weary figure was limping along the path leading from the Qianqing Palace to the Hongde Room.

Emperor Wanli, Zhu Yijun, was in his twenty-first year on the throne. The deformity of his right foot caused him constant pain, and for the past ten years he had almost stopped attending court, instead managing the country through memorials to the emperor.

Following behind him was Tian Yi, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, who carried a full handful of memorials and placed them on Wanli's desk.

"Weichuan! Have there been any memorials about the Korean War recently? Read them aloud first!" Wanli's energy was not what it used to be, and he was too lazy to review memorials now, so he simply let Tianyi pick out the important ones to read to him.

"Yes, according to a report from Zu Chengxun, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Liaodong, on July 15th, our army arrived in Pyongyang overnight from Shun'an. At dawn the next day, we fought the Japanese pirates at Qixingmen and defeated them decisively, killing and wounding thousands of Japanese pirates. Guerrilla commanders Shi Ru and Wang Shouguan were killed in battle. Our army has returned victorious to Yizhou..."

"Hmph, what great victory? Does this deputy commander of Liaodong have a death wish? What kind of logic is there in winning a battle and then running back? They even lost two guerrillas; it's clearly a crushing defeat. Can't the Ministry of War see through such a simple trick?"

The wrinkles on Emperor Wanli's face trembled incessantly, and Tian Yi, standing beside him, hurriedly knelt down, holding the memorial to the throne.

"However, they also mentioned in their memorial that dozens of heads had been beheaded, and that the heads would soon be sent to the Ministry of War for inspection..."

"Oh! Is that so!" Emperor Wanli's anger subsided somewhat. With a severed head, the memorial should be more credible, and the fact that it was willing to be sent to the capital for verification suggests a certain level of confidence...

Wanli regained his normal expression and returned to his seat.

"Furthermore, the Ministry of Rites reported that the Ryukyu envoy has arrived in Fujian and reported that King Sho Ei of Ryukyu has passed away and that King Sho Ken has ascended the throne. He is currently acting as the acting governor of the country and will officially assume the throne after being formally appointed by the court..."

"Let the Ministry of Rites handle it themselves! My legs are already in this state, I don't want to go through all that trouble," Emperor Wanli said, feeling frustrated.

After all the important events had been reported, it was already past 11:45 PM. Emperor Wanli stretched and yawned, saying:

"Add your red annotations to the memorials according to my instructions. I'm tired; that's enough for today!"

"Your Majesty, Zhang Cheng, the Director of the Eastern Depot and the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, requests an audience," a young eunuch rushed in to report.

"Tomorrow then! It's already late today."

"But Your Majesty, Admiral Zhang said this matter is extremely urgent and related to the war in Korea."

The young eunuch spoke cautiously, explaining that Zhang Cheng, as the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, held great prestige among the eunuchs, and most dared not offend him. Therefore, he dared to risk angering the emperor to try and secure his services.

Emperor Wanli was roused and immediately summoned Zhang Cheng to the palace.

Zhang Cheng hurried over with small, quick steps:

"Your Majesty, I have something to report to Minister of War Shi Xing..."

"What?! They actually dared to lie about military intelligence and embezzle battle credits?"

Emperor Wanli was now furious:

"This Zu Chengxun, not only did he suffer a defeat, but he also tried to cover it up by falsely reporting military intelligence?"

And this Shi Xing, finally one of the Ming Dynasty's overseas vassals has stepped forward to fight alongside our Great Ming, and now he's willing to push him out for a few dozen heads. What use are such treacherous and despicable villains to me?"

In a fit of anger, Wanli pointed at Zhang Cheng and Tian Yi's noses and said:

"Immediately draft an edict for me to thoroughly investigate this matter and bring these two treacherous officials to justice..."

Wan Li was so angry that his beard trembled incessantly.

Zhang Cheng and Tian Yi hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Your Majesty, about the matter of the Ryukyu envoy..." Tian Yi waited until Emperor Wanli's anger subsided before reminding him.

"Oh, yes! Since the Ryukyuans are willing to cooperate with us in fighting the Japanese pirates, we really can't be so hasty... Here's what we'll do! Go and issue an imperial decree, ordering the Fujian governor and the Maritime Trade Office to send the Ryukyuan envoys to the capital as quickly as possible."

Furthermore, the Ministry of War was instructed to thoroughly examine the heads provided by the Ryukyuans to determine whether they were genuine Japanese.

"Oh, right, Weichuan, if I remember correctly, the Ryukyuans warned us before that Japanese pirates might invade!"

"Your Majesty has a good memory; this is indeed true," Tian Yi quickly replied.

The Wanli Records are correct. Before Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea, he sent envoys to a large number of vassal states around the Ming Dynasty, such as Ryukyu, Vietnam, and Siam, based on the principle of recruiting as many reinforcements as possible, and made an agreement with them to invade Korea together and divide its territory.

The former king of Ryukyu, Shōei, also understood the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold" and took the initiative to report the unusual behavior of the East to the Ming Dynasty. However, at that time, the entire Ming court did not take it seriously.

A relieved smile appeared on Wanli's face:

"It seems that the Ryukyuans are truly loyal overseas! Since they are so loyal to my Great Ming, I must meet with them before making a decision."

"Send word to the Ministry of Rites to prepare for the investiture ceremony and the presentation of the official credentials. I will personally host the Ryukyu delegation."

"Yes, ma'am."

As Emperor Wanli walked towards his bedchamber accompanied by a young eunuch, Zhang Cheng and Tian Yi exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.

As eunuchs, they were naturally at odds with civil officials, especially since they hadn't benefited from the previous "money-spraying" campaign by the Koreans. Now they had to seize the opportunity to trick the other side.

A few days later, Shi Xing, the Minister of War, was thrown into prison for "embezzlement, dereliction of duty, deceiving the emperor, and colluding with officials outside the capital." Zu Chengxun, who had colluded with him, was also dismissed from office and beheaded.

However, Bai Ling and Zheng Jiong were unaware of all this, as they waited for the imperial decree at Rouyuan Post Station in Fuzhou.