It is impossible for Shen Yi to control Wenzhou Prefecture alone.
More importantly, this time the target of the large group of Japanese pirates is likely to be not just Wenzhou Prefecture, but the entire eastern Zhejiang. If you want to coordinate eastern Zhejiang, you must have Li Mu, the imperial envoy, to give orders.
Fortunately, Li Mu did not go far. When Shen Yi was recruiting troops in Yongjia, Li Mu was clearing out the local large Japanese merchants in Funing County, some south of Yongjia. Shen Yi sent the anti-Japanese army officers to send him a letter overnight. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not hesitate. After receiving Shen Yi's letter, he hurried back to Yongjia with only ten or twenty followers.
Because the two hundred anti-Japanese troops following him did not have that many horses, they could only follow him back to Yongjia on foot.
The journey from Funing County to Yongjia was only about 260 miles. In the evening of the next day, Li Mu rushed back to Yongjia, the capital of Wenzhou, and found Shen Yi in the anti-Japanese army camp outside the capital.
In fact, after receiving the news of the gathering of Japanese pirates last night, Shen Yi moved to the anti-Japanese army camp so that he could respond on the fly if there was any situation.
At the gate of the anti-Japanese army camp, Shen Yi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Li Mu rushing back.
He stepped forward and bowed to Li Mu.
"The prince is finally back."
Li Mu jumped off the horse, with a tired look on his face. The Crown Prince of Jin stepped forward and helped Shen Yi up. Then he looked at Shen Yi's sleeves and walked into the camp, saying in a deep voice: "Go in and talk."
Shen Yi nodded and led Li Mu into the commander's tent of the anti-Japanese army. In the commander's tent, Li Mu sat on the main seat, and Shen Yi sat beside him. After the two sat down, Li Mu looked at Shen Yi and frowned: "Say Talking about the specific situation, why did such a large group of Japanese pirates suddenly gather in Wenzhou Prefecture without any signs in advance?"
Shen Yi sighed and said slowly: "Your Majesty, I have also thought about this problem. Logically speaking, even if the Japanese pirates take action, there should be some signs before thousands of Japanese pirates gather. But this time, the Di News Agency got the news. By that time, these Japanese pirates had already gathered in large numbers."
Mr. Shen looked at Li Mu and said in a deep voice: "At this moment, the Japanese pirates may launch plunder at any time..."
"I thought about it all day and night, and came up with several possibilities."
Li Mu lowered his head, took a sip of tea, and took a deep breath: "Tell me and listen."
"The first possibility is that Wang Xian, the man we crippled in Taizhou Prefecture, was responsible for causing so many Japanese pirates to gather in Wenzhou Prefecture in a short period of time, but..."
Shen Yi paused and continued: "However, Wang Xian can still count among the Japanese pirates along the coast of Taizhou Prefecture, but among the many Japanese pirate groups, they are not particularly powerful. Even if he knows some Japanese pirates, he is not very powerful. Maybe he has such great ability."
"The second possibility..."
Shen Yi looked up at Li Mu and said slowly: "The second possibility is that we ransacked the houses along the way and completely offended the gentry along the coast. Some wealthy businessmen who had dealings with Japanese pirates or simply supported Japanese pirates were afraid that the prince would go and liquidate them. Therefore, they tried their best to summon the Japanese pirates and created such a large formation..."
Li Mu frowned.
He looked at Shen Yi and said in a deep voice: "Zi Heng is wrong. Even if there are thousands of Japanese pirates, it is impossible for them to attack Wenzhou Prefecture. Even if these Japanese pirates commit evil in eastern Zhejiang, after all, they cannot hurt you and me." Even human beings can’t stop us from continuing to patrol the sea.”…
Shen Yi looked at Li Mu, lowered his eyebrows and said: "Your Majesty, our Anti-Japanese Army is newly established. If these Japanese pirates go away under the noses of the Anti-Japanese Army and harm the people in eastern Zhejiang, the reputation of the Anti-Japanese Army will be completely destroyed. It’s dead, and it’s not just as simple as the death of an anti-Japanese soldier…”
"After the anti-Japanese army is dead, it will be even more difficult for the imperial court to set up a similar coastal defense force on the coast in the future. It can only draw people from the Forbidden Army, and the Forbidden Army is not familiar with the place and may not be able to take those people. How about the Japanese pirates…”
Li Mu frowned and looked at Shen Yi thoughtfully: "Then... what about the third possibility?"
Shen Yi's expression was a little complicated. He looked up at Li Mu and said slowly: "The third possibility is that someone in the court sees that we are unhappy."
"The prince has been patrolling the sea all the way south. So far, he has ransacked six or seven houses. The houses he has raided are all local wealthy noble families. Many of them have connections in the imperial court. Some people's backstage may be... A senior official in Jiankang City."
"Let's investigate all the way like this. Not to mention cutting off their wings, those in the court may be worried about finding them, so they will try their best to mess up this patrol..."
Prince Jin's face changed.
"What Zi Heng means is that there are people in the imperial court who are dealing with Japanese pirates?!"
"We can't talk to Japan."
Shen Yi said slowly: "However, some of the princes in the court are very capable and have a wide range of ways. Maybe they have the ability to contact these Japanese pirates."
Having said this, Shen Yi looked up at Li Mu again. He opened his mouth but stopped talking.
Li Mu saw Shen Yi's expression in his eyes. The prince of Jin pondered for a while, then looked at Shen Yi and whispered: "Did Zi Heng want to say that the Zhao clan may also be involved in this matter..."
It has been a month or two since the anti-Japanese army was recruited. After the anti-Japanese army was recruited, it became clear that the emperor wanted to build a new armed force. And the force that threatened the most with this idea was naturally the Huaihe Navy that had been in control for decades. The Zhao family is here.
Shen Yi shook his head: "Your Majesty, I didn't say anything."
Li Mu's face looked a little ugly. He lowered his head slightly and said, "Yes, I really can't say anything..."
After saying this, he clenched his fists so hard that his nails almost dug into his flesh.
After the two were silent for a while, Li Mu looked up at Shen Yi and asked, "Does Ziheng already have a countermeasure?"
Shen Yi sighed, repeated what he said to Magistrate Jiang, and then said: "Your Majesty, the people in the Di Bao Department are watching the movements of the Japanese pirates. Since the anti-Japanese army has formed an army, we have no way out. We can only face them head-on and repel or defeat these Japanese pirates!"
The anti-Japanese army currently has more than a thousand people at its disposal, of which seven to eight hundred are unqualified recruits, two to three hundred qualified recruits, and several hundred recruits who have been trained for a period of time.
This number of people is incomparable to the number of Japanese pirates who numbered several thousand.
The pain lies in the fact that Shen Yi doesn't know how to fight.
Knowing a wolf trap is already the limit of his knowledge inventory. As for formations such as Qi Jiajun's Yuanyang Formation, he really can't use it...
Otherwise, given the brilliant results of the Qi Jiajun's battle against the Japanese pirates, the more than a thousand men in Shen Yi's hands would be quite sufficient.
Not only enough, but more than enough.
But there was no way. Firstly, the quality of this anti-Japanese army was far inferior to that of the Qi Jiajun. Secondly, Shen Yi had not learned the Qi Jiajun's battle formations. Now that the enemy was in front of him, he had no choice but to bite the bullet.
After listening to Shen Yi's words, Li Mu nodded without saying a word and said: "Tomorrow morning, I will personally go to the Wenzhou government office and ask them to follow your instructions, Ziheng. As for the matter of responding to the enemy when the opportunity arises..."
"I have brought Ling Su back. You and Ling Su will be discussing the specific details of the war in a while. I will not participate, but..."
Li Mu's eyes were bright: "After we have discussed it, remember to tell me that although I will not command the army, I will kill a few Japanese pirates on the battlefield to help the common people vent their anger!"
Shen Yi shook his head slightly: "Your Majesty is an imperial envoy, so you can't go into battle."
Li Mu looked determined.
"Ziheng, I am from the Li family."
"In the face of foreign enemies, there is no one in the entire anti-Japanese army who should go into battle more than me."
…………
While Li Mu and Shen Yi were discussing anti-Japanese matters in the camp outside Yongjia City, dozens of small boats docked one by one on the coast of Yueqing County under Wenzhou Prefecture, taking advantage of the darkness.
On each ship, more than a dozen people jumped out. These people were all wearing Japanese clothes and carrying swords at their waists.
A Japanese leader who looked like a leader jumped out of the boat, pulled out the sword from his waist, swung the sword fiercely, and then shouted in Japanese.
"Do it!"
As a result, hundreds of Japanese pirates rushed towards Yueqing with quick movements!