Chapter 27: Embroidered Brocade of Jiangnan

  A sudden tornado caused the deaths of over 500 elite house slaves under Wang Pu, and although Wang Pu and more than 200 remaining house slaves were lucky to escape, the mast was blown off and the sail was rolled away, making it impossible for them to continue sailing with the wind. They had no choice but to drift on the sea at the mercy of the waves.

  After drifting at sea for half a month, when the fresh water and food on the ship were about to be consumed, the scar-faced man who was responsible for lookout duty on the mast first spotted land. He became so excited that the scars on his face began to tremble as he loudly shouted to Wang Pu on the deck: "General, land! I see land! We're saved, we're saved, hahaha..."

  Wang Pu hastily raised his head and asked: "Where? In which direction?"

  "Westward, in the direction of the setting sun!"

  "Which direction is the sunset?"

  Wang Pu raised his hand to shade his eyes and gazed westward, and indeed saw the faint outline of a coastline. Looking at the endless coastline, it shouldn't be an island. It seems that what's ahead is the mainland, but he didn't know where he had drifted to. However, one thing was certain - this definitely wasn't Shandong anymore.

  "The fishing boat." The scar-faced man on the mast shouted again, "There are two fishing boats ahead."

  Wang Pu looked in the direction of the scar-faced man's pointing finger and indeed saw two small fishing boats. Just as Wang Pu was about to put down the small boat and send someone over to ask where they were, the fishermen on the two boats quickly pulled up their nets and rowed away, disappearing into two small black dots in less than a moment.

  "What's going on here?"

  Xiao Qi smiled wryly and said: "General, these fishermen probably think we're pirates."

  Xiao Qi was not wrong, after the two fishing boats disappeared, about half a time later, suddenly appeared two large ships in front of the sea surface, each large ship's main mast hung a day and month flag, on the side of the hull opened a row of shooting holes, from the shooting holes out of a black little cannon, it turned out to be the warship of the Ming Dynasty.

  The Great Ming flag: blue background, red sun and yellow moon overlap, meaning "great brightness", the red sun emits twelve rays of light, four large corners pointing to the four corners of the flag, meaning the glory of the Great Ming shines towards the four seas and eight wilderness.

  "It's the naval fleet of the Great Ming." Scarface shouted, "We really returned to the Great Ming."

  At this time, the family soldiers in the cabin also rushed to the deck, jumping and shouting, waving their hands vigorously towards the approaching Ming warship. They were all excited to the point of madness. The excitement of these family soldiers was understandable. When they followed Wang Pu to Liaodong, they didn't think they could come back alive. But now they not only came back alive but also brought back incredible and rich spoils of war!

  Wang Pu also sincerely exclaimed, "The feeling of escaping from death is really damn great!"

  Two naval warships slowly approached from the left and right wings, sandwiching Wang Pu's large ship tightly in between. A general of the Ming navy poked his head out from behind the female wall and shouted loudly: "Who are you people?"

  "Wang Pu stepped out of the crowd and answered loudly: 'The Commander-in-Chief of Datong - Wang Pu!'"

  "King Pu?" The naval commander muttered expressionlessly, then his face changed greatly, "What, you are the Datong General Wang Pu?"

  "Wang Pu said loudly: 'That's right, this town.'"

  The naval commander shouted: "What evidence do you have?"

  Xiao Qi held up Wang Pu's General Seal above his head and said loudly: "Does this General Seal count as evidence?"

  "It's really General Wang!" The naval commander suddenly shouted loudly, "Brothers, come and see, General Wang has returned triumphantly..."

  The naval commander let out a loud roar, and hundreds of sailors rushed onto the deck like wind, vying to catch a glimpse of Wang Pu's magnificence.

  At this time, Wang Pu still did not know that he had already entered the outer sea of Songjiang Prefecture, nor did he know that the news of his leading a lone army deep into the Liaodong Peninsula, destroying the old lair of Jianzhou and capturing the slave leader Huang Taiji alive, had spread throughout Jiangnan.

  The Jiangnan region has a thriving literary scene, with writers forming societies and gathering frequently to discuss literature, poetry, and politics. For example, the Fu She society, founded by Zhang Yu from Taicang, Jiangsu, had thousands of members who would often meet to critique each other's work, recite poetry, and even criticize government policies. Incidents like Wang Pu's surprise attack on Shengjing naturally became hot topics among these literary figures.

  To say the least, when Wang Pu's large ship appeared in the outer sea of Songjiang Prefecture, from high-ranking officials and nobles in Nanjing, the temporary capital, to merchants and travelers in various prefectures, almost all the scholars and common people in Jiangnan were talking about his deeds. Even when the courtesans on Qinhuai River gathered together, the focus of their conversation was also Wang Pu, the General-in-Chief of Datong.

  In short, Wang Pu had become a household name in various provinces of Jiangnan at that time.

  ■■■

  Huating

  Songjiang Magistrate Qian Heng is hosting a banquet for his uncle Qian Jianyi in the backyard of the government office.

  Qian Qianyi was also a famous figure in Jiangnan, known as the leader of the Jiangnan literati. During the Tianqi era, he served as the Vice Minister of Rites and was one of the leaders of the Donglin Party. Later, after losing to Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru, he was dismissed from office and had been idle at home for over a decade. Although Qian Qianyi was already in his fifties, he spent his days frequenting brothels and indulging in sensual pleasures, earning him the nickname "Master of the Wind and Willow Teachings" among the Jiangnan literati.

  To entertain his uncle Qian Xunyi, the magistrate of Songjiang, Qian Heng specially invited several famous scholars from Songjiang Prefecture to accompany him, including Chen Zilong and Xia Yunyi.

  Chen Zilong and Xia Yunyi were both members of the Fu She, after the fall of Southern Ming, they devoted themselves to the anti-Qing cause, one after another died for their country. Xia Yunyi had a son named Xia Wanchun, who followed in his father's footsteps to resist the Qing, but was killed by the Qing army at the age of 17. The poems left behind by Xia Wanchun can be described as "surprising talent and absolute beauty", not inferior to the three great masters of Jiangzuo.

  After three rounds of wine, people naturally talked about Wang Kuo's solo expedition into Liaodong.

  Chen Zilong said with emotion: "As a man of seven feet, he should follow the example of Wang Pu's general to lead his troops to fight on the battlefield, to attack the enemy's lair, and to make contributions to the court."

  "Indeed, the current imperial examination is shrouded in darkness and corruption, with cheating rampant. Those who truly have talent are unable to obtain an official position, while those who resort to trickery and flattery are everywhere successful. It's enough to chill one's heart just thinking about it. I'd rather put down my pen and take up arms, going to the front lines in western Liaoning to fight against the Jurchen slaves."

  Qian Heng shook his head and said: "You two really believe in the rumor from the capital?"

  Chen Zilong hastily asked: "What? Is this thing false?"

  Qian Heng said confidently: "In this official's opinion, this matter is simply a fabrication by the Emperor and the court to boost military morale and civilian morale."

  "This is absolutely impossible." Xia Yunyi retorted, "This is the telegram sent by Commander Hong from Songshan to Beijing, would Commander Hong dare to deceive Your Majesty?"

  "Hong Du Shi would not dare to deceive you," said Qian Heng. "According to what this official knows, the last sentence of Hong Du Shi's report sent back to the capital was 'This matter has not been finally verified, please let the imperial court verify it through Mongolian and Korean spies.'"

  Chen Zilong said: "The urgent report from the capital that was sent to Luoyang is something I have seen with my own eyes, and there is no such sentence on it."

  Qian Hengdao said: "So I, the official, dare to conclude that this matter is purely fabricated. If not, since it has been almost a month since the incident, why hasn't there been any news about Wang Pu, the commander of Datong? Whether he's dead or alive, shouldn't there be some news?"

  "Quick, quick, Master...!" Just as Qian Heng's words fell, his teacher suddenly rushed in panting and said, "Hurry, hurry to welcome, to welcome..."

  Qian Heng furrowed his brow and said displeased: "Didn't I instruct you before that you are not to come disturb me without a reason?"

  The teacher suddenly took a deep breath and said urgently: "Sir, just now the Jinshan Wei's naval force came to report that they encountered General Wang in the outer sea of Songjiang."

  "Commander Wang?" Qian Heng asked coldly, "Which Commander Wang?"

  "Which General Wang can it be?" The teacher stamped his foot and said, "Isn't it General Wang Pu of Datong?"

  "What? Da, Da Tong General Wang, Wang Pu?" Qian Heng's face changed greatly, and he hastily asked, "He...he...is he in the outer sea of Songjiang?"

  The rest of the people, including Qian Yi and Chen Zi Long, also changed their expressions and stood up. Just now they were talking about General Wang, but now they had arrived at Songjiang. But wasn't General Wang trapped by Jian Nu on Lianyun Island in Liaodong? How did he end up in the outer sea of Songjiang?

  The teacher gasped: "According to the naval officers and soldiers, after General Wang destroyed the Jurchen bandits' lair, he marched towards Korea and boarded ships at Incheon Port. He originally planned to return to Dengzhou but encountered a typhoon midway, causing two of the three large ships to capsize, and more than 800 troops were reduced to less than 300. Only then did they drift off course and arrive at Songjiang."

  Qian Heng still refused to believe and asked again: "Is it really Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong?"

  "It can't be wrong." The teacher said categorically, "The general's seal has been verified, and there are also Jian Nu's slave leader, the prince, and two imperial concubines, all of whom are on the boat."

  "Hurry, hurry and gather all the officials of the prefecture, big and small, to follow me to welcome them." Qian Heng picked up his official robe and ran out, after running a few steps he said to Shi Ye, "Right, first go and send a report to Nanjing, say that the naval forces of Songshan Prefecture's Jinshan Garrison have already brought back General Wang and his officers from the sea route."

  This guy is quite good at stealing credit, Wang Pu's men and ships were originally drifting on their own, but after he said that, it became that he sent a naval force from Korea to pick them up.

  "Yes, yes, yes." The teacher replied in a series of affirmative tones, "I'll go and take care of it right away, I'll go right now."

  Qian rubbed his hands together and actually abandoned the guests in the backyard to take care of himself.

  Chen Zilong looked around at Qian Qianyi, Xia Yunyi and others, saying: "Pastor Lao [Qian Qianyi's courtesy name was Pastor Zhai, later generations respectfully called him Pastor Lao], Zhong Yi [Xia Yunyi's courtesy name], why don't we also go to welcome them?"