Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Besides sending money, there is another, even greater benefit to personally visiting Ningbo.

For the past few months, Lu Chen had been living a life of luxury in Linqing, with the entire Imperial Guard's Thousand Households flattering and fawning over him. However, the unease deep in his heart was growing stronger and stronger.

The real "Lu Chen's" identity must be highly suspicious!

Now that more and more people have met him, sooner or later he will meet someone who knows the real "Lu Chen".

Although they have already bound the entire Linqing Jinyiwei Thousand Household Office to their own interests through this glass workshop, they may not dare to stand together with them if they encounter pressure from a truly powerful authority.

Although a secret safe house was left in Biyang County early on, it was still within the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

It could certainly be used to transfer assets, but if it really came to that, he would have no choice but to live a secluded life in Biyang County and become a low-key wealthy man.

As a wanted criminal who impersonated an official, it was impossible for him to operate openly within the Ming Dynasty. Even after changing his name and identity, the risks were still very high.

It can only serve as a safe haven and a place to hide.

Lu Chen felt that under these circumstances, if he wanted to achieve anything, he would have no choice but to openly oppose the Ming Dynasty!

He who steals a pearl shall be executed; he who steals a kingdom shall become a prince!

If Wang Wufeng and Zheng Yiguan could do it, why couldn't I do it too!

If one truly descends into banditry, then strength reigns supreme.

It wouldn't be difficult for him to subdue some merchants and pirates with his personal strength!

Wang Wufeng and Zheng Yiguan were actually very similar; they sought the same goal: to be granted amnesty and to lift the sea ban.

He cleaned his name and became a Ming Dynasty official, turned his subordinates into the Ming Dynasty's navy, and was able to legally engage in maritime trade.

It's just that Wang Wufeng was unlucky.

Judging from the various historical materials passed down from the Ming Dynasty, Hu Zongxian initially genuinely wanted to pacify Wang Zhi and was very sincere in his intentions.

As the first warlord to dominate the East China Sea in the Ming Dynasty, how could Wang Zhi have landed on the shore with only a few followers and entered Hu Zongxian's camp without being fully prepared, if Hu Zongxian had not shown sufficient sincerity?

Hu Zongxian even sent his trusted commander Xia Zheng to Wang Zhi's camp as a hostage, which finally made Wang Zhi lower his guard.

Unfortunately, this sincerity turned out to be a deadly poison.

Because Hu Zongxian, the Left Vice Minister of War and concurrently Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate who was in charge of military affairs in Southern Zhili, Zhejiang and Fujian, had a fatal weakness!

That means the methods weren't strong enough, and the promises couldn't be kept!

Wang Bengu, the Imperial Inspector of Zhejiang, completely disregarded Hu Zongxian's plan and directly imprisoned Wang Zhi, who had come to visit him, in Hangzhou, and impeached Hu Zongxian for accepting huge bribes from Wang Zhi!

While in prison, Wang Zhi submitted a memorial to defend himself, arguing that he was defending the country's borders and consistently denied being a Japanese pirate, insisting that he was a maritime merchant.

Wang Zhi also demanded that the imperial court lift the maritime ban, allowing maritime merchants to trade legally. He believed that this would not only bring huge customs revenue to the imperial court, but also quickly quell the so-called Japanese pirate problem.

Unfortunately, Hu Zongxian lacked backbone. In order to protect himself, he submitted a memorial changing his tune, stating that Wang Zhi's crimes were unforgivable.

Before his execution, Wang Zhi said, "If I die, the people of Zhejiang and Jiangsu will suffer greatly."

As predicted, after Wang Zhi was executed, Wang Zhi's adopted son, Wang Ao, who had been waiting in Cengang, Zhoushan, executed Xia Zheng, a third-rank commander who was being held hostage, by cutting him into pieces. He then led his troops in a bloody battle against the Ming army and eventually broke through the encirclement.

After fleeing back to his stronghold in the Goto Islands, Wang Ao, as Wang Zhi's successor, used the Ming court's betrayal and killing of surrendered soldiers as a pretext to mobilize all forces to avenge Wang Zhi, and tens of thousands of "Japanese pirates" swept across the southeastern coast.

At the beginning of the war, coastal prefectures and counties fell one after another, causing immense suffering and loss of life.

The situation only began to improve after Qi Jiguang formed the Qi Family Army, which mainly consisted of miners from Yiwu.

It was eight years later that the "Japanese pirate raids" centered around Wang Zhi's remaining forces were basically quelled.

Compared to Wang Zhi, Zheng Yiguan was much luckier.

Unlike Hu Zongxian, the Fujian governor Xiong Tingbi was not easily restrained by the civil officials within Fujian. Moreover, with the precedent of Wang Zhi, the negotiations between the two sides were not based on one-sided trust from the beginning, but on hard power.

Although there are no detailed records of how Zheng Yiguan met Xiong Tingbi, it is highly likely that he did not go alone, but brought an elite force with him.

Moreover, at that time, Zheng's private army of 30,000 was already on standby in several important seaports in Fujian. If Xiong Tingbi dared to turn against him, not only would he not be able to capture Zheng Yiguan on the spot, but it would also lead to an immediate outbreak of full-scale war between the two sides.

This was a consequence that Xiong Tingbi could not bear, and he could only keep his promise.

Zheng Yiguan finally succeeded in clearing his name and going ashore. He had more than 30,000 followers and more than 1,000 warships, which were then reorganized into the Ming Dynasty Navy.

This army later became the last backbone of the Ming Dynasty, resisting the Manchus under the leadership of Zheng Sen, the eldest son of Zheng Yiguan.

Even after Emperor Yongli fled to Burma, the Qing army once attacked into the Yangtze River, almost annihilating the main force of the Qing Dynasty in the Jiangnan region and besieging Nanjing.

Had it not been for a major blunder during the Battle of Nanjing that led to the failure of the campaign, the history of China in another dimension might have been rewritten.

Zheng Sen also has another well-known name: Zheng Chenggong!

Of course, this name is not actually accurate; it should be Zhu Chenggong.

Before accepting the offer of amnesty, Wang Wufeng and Zheng Yiguan were in very similar circumstances, but their fates were worlds apart.

The saying "One thought can make you a Buddha, one thought can make you a demon" is not just an empty phrase.

Compared to these powerful figures from the East China Sea who appeared in another dimension of history, Lu Chen has a significant advantage in addition to his personal martial prowess!

Whether it was Wang Zhi, or later Li Dan and Zheng Yiguan, their sphere of influence in Japan was limited to the Goto Islands, with at most their collaborator, the Hirado-Matsuura Domain.

Their influence could not penetrate further into the Japanese mainland.

But Lu Chen is different; he is very familiar with the current situation in Japan.

At this time, Japan was in the mid-Sengoku period, the authority of the shogunate had been lost, local daimyo were fighting each other, and it was at the peak of the "gekokujo" (overthrowing one's superior) period.

Ashikaga Yoshiharu, the twelfth shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, was so powerful that his orders did not extend beyond Kyoto. He was even forced to flee to Omi Province on several occasions, where he lived a life of dependence on others.

In the Kinki region, the Hosokawa and Miyoshi clans were vying for control of the shogunate, while in the eastern provinces, the Hojo, Takeda, and Imagawa clans were also rising to prominence.

In the western country, the Ōuchi and Amago clans were locked in a standoff, while the Mōri clan was amassing power.

The future Sixth Demon King, Oda Nobunaga, was only a three-year-old child at this time.

Lu Chen felt that if one day he really followed the path that Wang Wufeng had taken in another dimension of history, he might not need to keep focusing on the Ming court's offer of amnesty.

Even if he were lucky enough not to encounter someone like Wang Bengu, the civil service group during the Jiajing reign might not have tolerated him.

Taking advantage of the chaos of the Warring States period, it wouldn't be a bad idea to support a "ruler of the realm" in Japan!

To lay the foundation for this road, the first thing to do is to establish a relationship with the Shuangyu Port Maritime Group!

This is the most important purpose for my personal trip!