Five years ago, Hu Zongxian dismantled Xu Hai's pirate group through appeasement, leading to Xu Hai's suicide.
Three years ago, Hu Zongxian employed the same strategy to pacify another pirate leader, Wang Zhi. Wang Zhi followed Xu Hai's path—accepting the offer, receiving an official title, returning home in glory, bringing honor to his ancestors, and becoming intoxicated with success, only to ultimately be executed.
With the deaths of these two major pirate leaders and the destruction of their main forces and strongholds, no third pirate of comparable influence and cohesion like Xu Hai or Wang Zhi emerged. The remaining Japanese Pirates scattered to escape, breaking into small groups of no more than five hundred and no fewer than sixty to evade government troops. They fled like scattered birds and beasts, looting as they went, even pushing deep inland as far as Jiangxi!
The Japanese Pirates dispersed from coastal areas throughout the region. The Ming Dynasty was like a bear that had overturned a beehive and was being stung by swarms of bees—though a single swipe of its paw could crush many, its body was covered in stings.
The fight against the Japanese Pirates shifted from large-scale warfare to widespread guerrilla tactics.
After long years of peace, especially in inland garrisons where soldiers were more accustomed to farming than fighting, they were powerless against the fierce Japanese Pirates who lived by the sword. There were even instances where just sixty-four Japanese Pirates could breach a city's defenses and plunder it.
Hu Zongxian, leader of the anti-piracy forces, was busy "putting out fires" everywhere—solving one problem only for another to arise. Though victories were frequently reported, the small bands of Japanese Pirates were too numerous for his army to handle all at once.
Meanwhile, another anti-piracy general, Yu Dayou, was impeached and thrown into death row. Later, Lu Bing bribed Yan Shifan with a thousand taels of gold to spare his life, but Yu Dayou was exiled to the northwest to serve in the army. Although Yu Dayou eventually invented the single-wheeled cart to combat Mongol cavalry, earning merit and reinstatement, he was then dispatched by the Jiajing Emperor to suppress the rebellion led by Zhang Lian in Guangdong, who had established the Flying Dragon Kingdom. Thus, the anti-piracy forces temporarily lost a capable general like Yu Dayou.
Fortunately, heaven had not abandoned the Ming Dynasty. A third anti-piracy general, Qi Jiguang, emerged. Initially fighting Japanese Pirates in places like Dengzhou and Jimo in Shandong, he gained extensive experience. When Yu Dayou was imprisoned and the southwest urgently needed a commander, Qi Jiguang moved south, recruiting troops in fierce-hearted areas such as Jinhua and Yiwu to establish the Qi Family Army, dedicated to hunting down Japanese Pirate bands everywhere with notable success.
The ferocity of the Qi Family Army earned them the title "Japanese Pirate Hunters." At first, the Japanese Pirates resisted stubbornly, but eventually, they ceased fighting altogether, fleeing at the sight of the Qi Family Army's banners. The Qi Family Army pursued them relentlessly, herding them like ducks into a corner where they were annihilated in one stroke.
This time, several groups of Japanese Pirates were chased by the Qi Family Army to the outskirts of Xinghua City.
To evade the Qi Family Army, the Japanese Pirates began attacking the city, seeking refuge inside from the encirclement. The military and civilians of Xinghua County united, with even passing merchants voluntarily climbing the city walls to resist the Japanese pirates.
Even Wei Caiwei, a wandering physician, joined the anti-piracy forces as a military doctor, treating injured soldiers and civilians.
Outside, cannons and gunfire roared deafeningly. Wei Caiwei, who had never experienced such warfare, worked in a tent using iron forceps to extract bloody bullets from the wounded, surrounded by screams as if trapped in hell.Wei Caiwei immersed herself in treating the wounded, trying hard to forget Wang Daxia and the others fighting Japanese Pirates on the city walls, silently praying none of them would appear in the medical tent.
Time slipped away unnoticed. While stitching a soldier’s wound, she suddenly heard shouts from outside: "The Japanese Pirates have retreated! The Qi Family Army is here!"
Cheers erupted across Xinghua City as the gates swung open. Civilians poured out bearing food for the Qi Family Army, and the aroma of meals filled the air.
Only then did Wei Caiwei realize her robes were soaked through with sweat and she was trembling from hunger.
Though the battle had ended, more wounded kept arriving—those who’d fought on with minor injuries now finally laid down their arms to seek treatment.
After hastily swallowing a bowl of porridge, Wei Caiwei continued treating the lightly injured.
"He Daifu, quickly! Come check on my husband!" A familiar voice rang out—it was Wang Daxia. No, something had happened to Lu Ying!
Turning, she saw Ding Wu supporting Lu Ying, whose face was covered in blood.
Ding Wu looked deeply worried, but Lu Ying, despite the bloody face, reassured everyone, "It’s nothing serious. Just a flesh wound."
A stray bullet had grazed Lu Ying’s left cheek, tearing open a gash from cheekbone to ear that left flesh curled outward.
Wei Caiwei immediately washed her hands and began cleaning and suturing the wound. After twenty-some stitches, the left side of Lu Ying’s face resembled a dark centipede crawling across it—the disfigurement was permanent.
Ding Wu asked, "Will it scar?"
Wei Caiwei nodded. "I have wound ointment that promotes tissue regeneration and reduces scarring. But complete elimination isn’t possible. With cosmetics, it should be concealable."
Lu Ying remarked, "It’s fine. A scar might be better—my family would stop pestering me about marriage."
Ding Wu gazed at Lu Ying’s injured face, heart aching. Clenching his fists, he muttered, "It’s all my fault..."
Earlier, during the fierce battle against Japanese Pirates on the walls, Hua Brothers of the White Lotus Sect had seized an opportunity to turn his firearm toward Ding Wu!
Ding Wu was firing at Japanese Pirates from the ramparts when Lu Ying, having just fired a shot, crouched to reload gunpowder and bullets. Spotting Hua Brothers aiming covertly at Ding Wu.
There was no time to reload or warn Ding Wu. Lu Ying sprang up and tackled Hua Brothers. A gunshot rang out, the bullet striking the city wall, but as Lu Ying leaped, a stray Japanese Pirates bullet grazed her face, causing the disfigurement.
Bearing the pain, Lu Ying captured Hua Brothers alive—killing him would ruin the chance to lure out Iron Bull, the White Lotus Sect’s big fish.
Meanwhile, Wang Daxia dragged Hua Brothers into a rapeseed field and, using the pliers Wei Caiwei employed for bullet extraction, subjected him to brutal interrogation about why he’d targeted Ding Wu.
After forcibly extracting a fourth tooth with iron pliers, Hua Brothers finally confessed.
It turned out that White Lotus Sect leader Zhao Quan resented Ding Wu’s backing by San Niangzi, fearing Ding Wu would eventually seize the leadership. Thus, under the pretense of agreeing to help Ding Wu gather treasures for San Niangzi in Jiangnan, Zhao Quan secretly ordered his confidants to eliminate Ding Wu during the chaos and frame the real Japanese Pirates.
Hearing this, Wang Daxia slapped him across the face. "No wonder when our merchant ships were ambushed by Japanese Pirates last night and everyone suggested falling back to Xinghua City, only you insisted on advancing. You knew those Japanese Pirates, didn’t you? You even colluded with them to set up that ambush. The Japanese Pirates who hid thunderbolts in small sailboats to ram our ships last night—that was Iron Bull, wasn’t it?"
Hua Brothers vehemently denied it.Wang Daxia extracted four more teeth, blood splattering onto the golden rapeseed flowers. Hua Brothers finally confessed through a mouthful of blood, "It's him—the one with the Yin-Yang Head, wearing a long sword at his waist and no trousers—that's Iron Bull. He's a fake Japanese pirate! For years, he's been using the sect leader's capital and firearms to engage in smuggling and robbery at sea, funneling the goods through shops like the Myriad Goods Trading Company. He's the sect leader's biggest source of income."
"I secretly contacted his subordinates at Yangzhou Port, informing him that the sect leader wanted to eliminate Ding Wu, the thorn in his side, by borrowing another's blade. I also told him about the valuable goods like ginseng, deer antlers, and antiques aboard the Favorable Wind merchant ship. We planned to set an ambush when the ship reached the Zhenjiang section, lure it into the trap, and attack it with cannons from the shore. Then, I would collaborate with them from inside, seizing the goods before the ship sank and killing Ding Wu. With Japanese pirates everywhere, even if San Niangzi suspected foul play in Ding Wu's death, she'd have no evidence and could do nothing."
"But none of us expected that Boss Zhang, the antique merchant on the Favorable Wind, was an expert familiar with Japanese pirate tactics. He saw through our ambush and ordered the ship's captain to return to Xinghua County Port. He also uncovered the bomb hidden on the small sailboat and urged you to fire at the vessel. Both of our plans failed."
Who would have thought that Luo Longwen would turn out to be our savior? We almost fell into the hands of that fake Japanese pirate Iron Bull.
However, neither Hua Brothers nor Iron Bull had anticipated that Luo Longwen's cargo wasn't antiques but five thousand taels of gold.
After last night's failed operation, today's anti-pirate defense at the city wall presented a rare opportunity. Hua Brothers took a covert shot at Ding Wu, pretending to have been hit by Japanese pirates, but unexpectedly, Boss Ximen, who was traveling with them, discovered the ruse.
Wang Daxia raised his fist. "How many people are in Iron Bull's pirate gang now? How many firearms? Where do they operate?"
Hua Brothers, having lost eight teeth, was terrified and confessed without further coercion. "Initially, there were only over two hundred Death Warriors. The sect leader gave Iron Bull more than five hundred firearms and over ten thousand taels of silver as capital. But after years of struggle, Iron Bull likely commands at least one to two thousand men, with firearms at least doubled."
"I've been in Fengcheng in the north all along and only learned these details through correspondence between the sect leader and Iron Bull. I don't know the exact numbers or weapons. The sect leader sent me this time firstly to eliminate Ding Wu by borrowing another's blade, and secondly because Iron Bull has grown ambitious in recent years. With the sect leader far away, he no longer submits to control, and his reported accounts are often inaccurate. I was tasked with uncovering Iron Bull's true assets."
Profit stirs the human heart; even the White Lotus Sect is not a monolithic bloc.
With his identity exposed, Wang Daxia knocked Hua Brothers unconscious, stuffed him into a sack, and carried him to a temporary rented residence in Xinghua City where Lu Ying was staying, hiding him there for further interrogation.
Outside Xinghua City, the Qi Family Army was pursuing the fleeing Japanese pirates. Amid the chaos of war, the merchants dared not set out immediately and took refuge in Xinghua City, waiting for the Qi Family Army to achieve a decisive victory and for the canal to be safe before continuing their journey.
Having shared the same boat for a month, Luo Longwen had become familiar with Lu Ying, Ding Wu, and the others. He rented a neighboring residence to settle in and moved the gold there as well. Suffering from gout, he couldn't stay long on the damp ship. With the war's end uncertain, it was better to move ashore first.Wei Caiwei treated the wounded, then proceeded to administer acupuncture to Luo Longwen. She went to the Xinghua County pharmacy to fetch medicine and provided meticulous care—after all, her "elopement" with Wang Daxia still depended on Luo Longwen's capabilities.
Lu Ying, bearing facial injuries, continued discussions on dealing with the White Lotus Sect's Iron Bull. "...With just the few of us, we certainly can't defeat them. At this point, we can't rely on the local garrison—sixty-four Japanese Pirates were enough to defeat them. We must seek assistance from the Qi Family Army. Tomorrow we'll leave the city to locate the Qi Family Army. Once we find General Qi Jiguang, eliminating the Japanese Pirates will mean eliminating the White Lotus Sect."
Wang Daxia nodded. "Doctor Wei should stay behind—to keep an eye on Luo Longwen." It was too dangerous outside.
After finalizing their plan, everyone retired for the night.
Midnight, outside Xinghua City.
A group of eight riders arrived at the city gates, flying the banner of General Liu Xian, the anti-piracy commander, dressed in Ming military uniforms, and bearing Liu Xian's written orders.
All eight were pulled from their horses by Japanese Pirates using tripping ropes and killed. The false Japanese pirate Iron Bull ordered his subordinates to strip the soldiers' uniforms and wear them themselves, using helmets to conceal their Yin-Yang Heads as they disguised themselves as Ming troops heading toward Xinghua City.
Arriving at the city gates, Iron Bull shouted: "General Liu Xian has sent eight of us to reinforce Xinghua City! Open the gates quickly!"
After speaking, he placed the written orders into a bamboo basket lowered by rope.
The guards on the city walls verified Liu Xian's orders and tiger tally seal, confirming their authenticity before ordering the drawbridge over the moat to be lowered, allowing the eight men to enter.
Once Iron Bull rode through the gates, he immediately severed the ropes controlling the drawbridge and killed the guards at the entrance. He launched a red flare into the sky, whereupon the waiting Japanese Pirates swarmed forward, charging across the drawbridge through the city gates. Xinghua City had fallen.
Wei Caiwei was awakened by the commotion at midnight. "The Japanese Pirates are here!"
Author's Note: A fierce battle is about to begin, rubbing hands in excitement.
Historically, this is exactly how Xinghua City was captured by Japanese Pirates—I haven't exaggerated a single detail.
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