In May of the 27th year of Jiajing, just one month after Zhu Wan defeated Shuangyu Island, Japanese tribute envoy Zhou Liang led more than 600 people to Ningbo by boat.

This incident caused an uproar for a while.

You should know that since the second year of Jiajing, although the imperial court did not ban the Japanese official Investigation and Cooperation trade, it has made very strict regulations.

Japan is required to pay tribute every ten years, with three ships and hundreds of people, and it is prohibited to carry weapons.

Although there may be deviations in the number of people and ships in specific implementation, the time for one tribute in ten years has never been changed.

Now Zhou Liang has not paid tribute according to the prescribed time, but he has posed a problem for Zhu Wan.

Unlike the Japanese pirates, Zhou Liang represented the Ouchi clan, which was the official Japanese official.

When the matter involved the Gentiles, Zhu Wan naturally could not make decisions without authorization. On the one hand, he first asked the tribute envoy team to live in Dinghai County, Ningbo, and on the other hand, he wrote to the emperor for instructions on the solution.

After receiving Zhu Wan's memorial, Emperor Jiajing made instructions after discussing with the cabinet; he handled it flexibly.

This is equivalent to giving Zhu Wan the authorization and ordering him to handle the matter with all his power.

Logically speaking, when the emperor's will is passed to Ningbo, the Japanese tribute envoy can start the exploration and trade.

But at this time, a traitor provoked the disagreement and told Zhou Liang that Zhu Wan intended to write to the court to completely cancel Japan's Investigation and Trade.

The reason why they were settled in Ningbo was to delay time. They would be repatriated when the emperor's decree arrived.

Zhou Liang was naturally furious. The frequency of tributes now is far from meeting the needs of the Ouchi clan. Zhu Wan was extremely vicious and wanted to completely cancel the Investigation and Hebei trade.

This is really unbearable.

Since you can't bear it anymore, there is no need to endure it anymore.

Zhou Liang decided to assassinate Zhu Wan without stopping.

Although it is logical that the tribute envoy cannot carry weapons, it is just an official statement.

In fact, it is very dangerous to travel across the ocean. If you encounter pirates on the road without weapons, you don’t even have the ability to resist.

Besides, Zhou Liang's number of people traveling has exceeded the standard, so naturally he doesn't care about violating the Ming court's requirements in terms of weapons.

All of his men were the most brave warriors of the Ouchi clan. Zhou Liang picked out more than ten people and ordered them to sneak into the Inspectorate General in the night to take Zhu Wan's life.

Coincidentally, Zhu Wan returned to Hangzhou shortly after conquering Shuangyu. However, because the Japanese tribute envoy came to pay tribute, he returned to Ningbo and lived in the Dinghai County Procuratorate.

Dinghai County is very small, and Zhou Liang only found out about Zhu Wan's residence after a moment of inquiry.

On the night of May 9, the warrior sent by Zhou Liang sneaked into the prison and was about to commit an offense when he was discovered by Zhu Wan's personal soldiers.

The General Inspectorate's preparation work was done very well. For a time, countless personal soldiers rushed to fight with the Japanese samurai who came to assassinate Zhu Wan.

After a fierce battle, both sides suffered losses and all Japanese samurai were killed.

Zhu Wan was very dissatisfied with this. He wanted to leave a living, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

From the outfit, we can see that these assassins are Japanese, and now the only one who can gather so many Japanese with strong force in Dinghai County at one time is the only tribute mission brought by Zhou Liang.

Unfortunately, he didn't catch the survivor, otherwise he would definitely get something useful through interrogation.

But the next morning, news of the assassin sneaking into the General Inspectorate spread.

There is really no way to do this. There is no airtight wall in the world, not to mention that there is no movement in Dinghai County, which is impossible to suppress any movement.

Xu Yan naturally learned the news.

He was very worried about this.

In the original history, it was because Zhu Wan offended the Fujian and Zhejiang Group in the handling of this tribute envoy incident, which laid the root of disaster.

Now that things are moving in that direction, how can Xu Yan not be anxious?

After some thought, Xu Yan decided to go to the procuratorate to remind Zhu Wan.

However, after the assassination incident last night, many guards were added around the Inspector General.

Although Xu Yan and Zhu Wan were familiar with each other, they had also received a series of programmatic interrogations and successfully entered the procuratorate.

Zhu Wan handled official duties in the study as usual, and seemed to have not been greatly affected by the "assassination incident".

After learning that Xu Yan was coming, he also put down the document in his hand and signaled Xu Yan to sit down and say.

"Master Takashi, I heard that a Japanese infiltrated the Censorate for assassination last night?"

Xu Yan and Zhu Wan are considered old acquaintances, so there is no need to say nonsense greetings, but ask straight to the point.

Zhu Wan didn't hide it and nodded slightly, saying, "There is indeed such a matter. Judging from their outfits, they are probably from the tribute mission. Unfortunately, they didn't leave any living."

Xu Yan asked: "How is Master Budo going to deal with this matter?"

"Of course, we are chasing it to the end."

Zhu Wan said without hesitation.

Xu Yan sighed in his heart, Zhu Wan was indeed too straightforward.

"There is a saying that I don't know whether to say it or not after a late child."

"It's okay to say it now."

"Don't Master Budou think this is strange?"

Xu Yan paused and said, "The Japanese came to pay tribute, and naturally hoped that the Kanhe trade would go smoothly. The master of the Ministry led the Fujian and Zhejiang Army and was a political and important matter. They flattered you and cursed you, so how could they do such stupid things assassination?"

Zhu Wan felt that what Xu Yan said made sense and signaled him to continue speaking.

Xu Yan was encouraged and took a deep breath and said, "In my opinion, I am afraid that someone would interfere in this matter and provoke discord."

"Who thought it was done by me?"

"Of course, it's someone who doesn't like Master Budo."

Xu Yan continued: "Mr. Budang just destroyed Shuangyu not long ago. In addition to the Folang Ji people and Japanese pirates on the island, there should be many local pirates? These people are actually smuggling armed forces from Fujian and Zhejiang maritime merchants. Master. Budang has formed a bond with them."

Zhu Wan's face was solemn, and she was silent for a long time before she said, "This official naturally knew, but they would provoke Japanese envoys to assassinate this official because of this? After all, this involves foreign countries. Could it be that they don't even have any righteousness in their hearts?"

Xu Yan sneered in his heart, Dayi? These Fujian and Zhejiang marine merchants only have their own interests in their minds, and the word Dayi has nothing to do with them.

Since taking office, Zhu Wan has pursued a very strict maritime ban policy, which has naturally affected the interests of these maritime merchants.

The so-called cutting off people's money is like killing parents.

This contradiction was completely intensified after Zhu Wan destroyed Shuangyu.

All the marine merchants in Fujian and Zhejiang want to kill Zhu Wan and then go quickly.

Of course they didn't want to do it themselves, but at this time, a Japanese tribute envoy came again. Isn't it true that he killed someone with a loan knife?

"My Master, it is easy to get rid of foreign barbarians, but it is difficult to get rid of China. It is easy to get rid of China's stealing, but it is difficult to get rid of China's clothes and hats."

Xu Yan said passionately: "These Fujian and Zhejiang maritime merchants only have their own interests in their hearts, only their small families. As for the Ming Dynasty, the interests of the court are naturally not within their considerations. Anyone who blocks their way must be eliminated and they will be quick!"

...

...The Great Way of Heavens
Chapter completed!