Zhu Mo watched the expressions of the two men closely, knowing the timing was right. He smiled and said,
"Minister Hu, you have suffered greatly these past few days... I have come today not only to seek your counsel, but also to discuss the matter of the foreign nations' state letters with you. Hmm, their letters claim that you, Minister Hu, and General Yu killed good people to claim merit, just like Zhu Wan, and that the court should punish you severely?
Heh heh, to tell you the truth, it is known throughout the land that the battle at Lì Gǎng was my doing! It is utterly unreasonable for them to only apprehend Minister Hu! I believe it is now abundantly clear whether the foreigners on Zhoushan Island are bandits or innocent civilians. The twelve state letters are naturally utter nonsense.
Minister Hu, as the Governor-General of Zhejiang and Zhili, you are nominally the first line of defense against foreign powers. Why don't you simply reject all the unreasonable requests and baseless claims of the twelve nations? I, in my capacity as a Grand Secretary and Imperial Envoy, will lead the way in signing a dispatch, along with this case file, and have it delivered to them through your Governor-General's yamen. That way, they will have no grounds for complaint. What do you think?"
Hu Zongxian chuckled, glancing at Tan Lun, his unspoken message clear: See? Is Zhu Mo here to save me?
Tan Lun could only offer a wry smile, thinking, If Zhu Mo is willing to step forward and admit he was responsible, then you, Hu Zongxian, will be fine... But now that so many people have been killed, how can the twelve nations possibly let this matter rest? It seems things are only going to escalate.
Hu Zongxian said gratefully, "Zi Xuan, thank you for your concern... I think your plan is feasible. Zi Li, what do you think?"
Tan Lun also smiled and said, "Scholar Zhu's willingness to take responsibility is truly admirable! I also find it perfectly appropriate."
"Very well!"
Zhu Mo said calmly, "To be honest with you both, I have already drafted this dispatch. Take a look and see if it is acceptable. If it is, Minister Hu, please affix your seal?"
As he spoke, he produced another document and handed it to Hu Zongxian.
Tan Lun leaned in to read and was unsure how to feel. The document read:
"A Stern Admonition
To the Franks, Joseon, Ryukyu, Lǐ Kingdom, Burma, Malacca, Java, Srivijaya, Brunei, Pahang, Lan Xang, and Perak:
Previously, these nations declared the battle at Lì Gǎng by our Great Ming to be unjust, first sending an ultimatum, and then presenting state letters stating that all on Zhoushan's Lì Gǎng were their merchants and civilians, who were innocently slaughtered. Now, the Sino-Foreign Affairs Office has investigated and found that many of those encircled by the official army at Lì Gǎng were bandits from various nations. These individuals have repeatedly violated our borders for over a decade. It is understandable to say that combat is no longer appropriate, but why then did they kill and plunder our people? Those who killed civilians during wartime are guilty of war crimes. With both witness testimony and physical evidence now complete, the Zhoushan Public Affairs Office, on the twenty-eighth day of the sixth month, judged the first batch of four hundred people. Among them, two hundred were found to have killed civilians during the conflict and were beheaded. The remaining two hundred have been sentenced to twenty to fifty strokes of the cangue and exiled.
As the nations have presented unreasonable requests based on baseless claims, we now request that you withdraw your ultimatum and letters of war. Let us return to our previous treaties. If the nations persist in their ignorance, then you may proceed as you see fit.
Zhoushan Public Affairs Office, Grand Minister of Justice
Zhu Mo, Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion and Imperial Envoy of the Great Ming
Governor-General's Yamen of Zhejiang and Zhili."
After reading it, Tan Lun felt it was both reasonable and unreasonable. If it were reasonable, then these Japanese pirates had indeed killed many civilians, how could they be without guilt? If it were unreasonable, then the other nations had clearly submitted state letters, so why had they returned to the Governor-General's yamen of Zhejiang and Zhili at this time?
He thought for a moment and said,
"Grand Secretary Zhu, since the nations have already submitted state letters, then the Grand Secretariat and the Ministry of Rites must reply. Why is this again the Governor-General's yamen of Zhejiang and Zhili? It seems there is a problem!"
Hu Zongxian laughed and shook his head, saying,
"Zi Li, Zi Xuan has already explained it clearly in the document. The nations' justification is that the people on Zhoushan Island were all merchants and civilians, but the investigation found otherwise! Therefore, the final ultimatum and state letters are naturally without merit. Our request for them to withdraw them naturally begins with the Governor-General of Zhejiang and Zhili, the first line of defense..."
Tan Lun murmured, "This... also makes sense..."
Zhu Mo laughed and said, "Naturally, it makes sense! Minister, shall we affix the seal now?"
Hu Zongxian stood up and bowed deeply, saying,
"The document does not mention my name, which saves me countless troubles. Hu Zongxian thanks Zi Xuan for saving me!"
Upon this, Hu Zongxian nodded and immediately summoned several scribes. They made over a dozen copies, all of which were stamped. Zhu Mo then took out the Public Affairs Office's official seal and added his personal seal, completing everything swiftly. He immediately dispatched people to send two copies to the capital and one to the envoys of each nation. Finally, he entrusted a merchant to deliver one to Suo Zha in Ryukyu.
Soon, the first batch of the "Warning Records" had been printed.
Zhu Mo had people distribute them to the postal stations in the four provinces of Jiangnan. He also had yamen runners distribute them in the prefectural and county towns, and many were posted in public notice areas. Finally, tens of thousands of copies were transported to the capital and delivered to the various departments, bureaus, yamen, postal stations, and guild halls.
...
More than ten days later,
The capital was still under a state of emergency, but the atmosphere had somewhat eased. Amidst several days of hot and overcast weather, many rumors had quietly spread through the streets and alleys. Some said Zhu Mo had done something significant in the Southern Shrine, others that Hu Zongxian had died, and that the Japanese pirates on Zhoushan had escaped...
In the Yuxi Palace that afternoon, however, it seemed to have entered winter. The doors and windows of the main hall were tightly shut. Lü Fang, sweating profusely, knelt on the ground with a bucket, scrubbing the floor, wiping his forehead from time to time. Jiajing was not meditating, but holding a whisk, pacing calmly before a long table.
On the table were many papers. Pages, arranged in a long row... He read for a while, then suddenly became angry, then sorrowful... After nearly an hour, he had barely finished reading. He then sat upright on the Bagua platform, closed his eyes in deep thought for a while, and then slowly said,
"Lü Fang, what do you think?"
Lü Fang was suddenly startled. In his memory, Jiajing rarely asked such a general question; he was always sharp and to the point. Asking this way today was clearly not normal.
He stood up, dried his hands, and calmly replied,
"Reporting to Your Majesty, Zhu Mo killed two hundred Japanese bandits, and there was witness testimony and physical evidence. Your servant believes there is nothing wrong with that..."
"Hmph,"
Jiajing was displeased and snorted through his nose, saying,
"Are you also pretending to be confused with me? The Confucian sacrifice? What does the Southern Shrine's Confucian sacrifice mean? Why didn't your people report it earlier? They did it all, and then sent it to me with false sincerity?"
Lü Fang plopped to his knees and said,
"Your Majesty, Wu Ming and Wu Liang truly did not know... Zhu Mo only mentioned the Confucian sacrifice, but there was no sacrificial text... Besides, what would those brats understand about such things? They were confused and didn't report it..."
He knew that Jiajing was indeed angry at this moment, but only three or four parts of it. The remaining six or seven parts of his emotions were perhaps even he himself could not explain. At this moment, he dared not speak further.
Jiajing stared at him coldly. After a long while, he suddenly let out a long sigh and murmured,
"Lü Fang, am I getting old...?"