The timely and accurate transmission of military information plays a crucial role in gaining the initiative in war and winning victory, but the Imperial Wars during the Jiajing period were frequently lost, which has a lot to do with the transmission of military information at sea and leading to the passivity of anti-Wakou. On the one hand, the information asymmetry between the official and the Wokou, under the cover of the Ming officials, merchants and people, the Wokou can timely and accurately understand the official anti-Wokou military situation, while the Ming Dynasty lost popular support due to the sea ban policy, and the grasp of the Wakou information was more passive; On the other hand, the transmission of military information between the front line and the rear within the Ming Dynasty was blocked, such as false information in order to seize military merits, inconsistent decision-making between the front line and the central government, and local officials pursuing advantages and avoiding harm without reporting or falsely reporting the situation, so the Woku were even more unscrupulous.
During the Jiajing period, the strict sea ban policy seriously threatened the livelihood of coastal merchants, and for a time the people were miserable and complaining, so they turned to Kou and became the "eyes and ears" of the Wokou, and even the officials and wealthy families in Zhejiang, Fujian and other places colluded with the Wokou to cover for them. They either guided the Wokou when they plundered the interior, or when the Ming Dynasty government consulted the Wokou when they were suppressing the Wokou, they concealed the truth and misled the officials, resulting in information asymmetry between the official and the Wokou, that is, the Wakou information flowed smoothly, while the official information was blocked, so that the Wakou activities were more rampant.
During the Jiajing period, the sea ban policy was more strictly enforced, and frequent sea ban decrees were issued, and the punishment of those who violated the ban on going to sea was extremely severe, but because of the huge profit margin of the maritime smuggling trade, "it will be doubled and fought a hundredfold." Therefore, coastal residents and wealthy tycoons risked smuggling activities at any cost, and officials who forbade the sea also intruded into maritime trade because of their selfish interests, so that private trade at sea was forbidden endlessly. "On the occasion of Chenghong, the wealthy giant room, there are giant ships in between, and those who trade overseas." During the Zhengde years, there were more people who "privately built huge lots, and sailed foreign transactions to make profits".
The official history of the Ming Dynasty, the twists and turns, and the anthology often refer to these people as "traitors", and the Ming man Xie Jie described these "traitors" in detail, "Thieves are sincere and good at concealing good deceit, and anyone who harbors and instigates for them is also my traitors!" He believed that these traitors knew everything about the local rich and noble families and government treasury, and they harbored or informed the wakou of the situation, so that when they went deep into the mainland, they were "familiar with the road" and allowed to be plundered. The history of the Jiajing dynasty concentrated on the situation of coastal officials, military, merchants, and people. Zhu Lu can be said to be the first person to cure the Wakou since the Jiajing Woku, and he believes that the Wakou have a strong civil support force in the coastal areas, that is, "if there are no traitors in China, there will be no troubles in the outside world." If there is no local owner, there is no guest thief."
Therefore, he strictly implemented the policy of sea ban, trying to ban the Wokou by closing the communication channels between the inland and the sea, but Zhu Jun's final fate was to hang himself, and he attributed his death to the Fujian and Zhejiang people, and left behind the generous and sad words "Even if the Son of Heaven does not want to kill me, the Fujian and Zhejiang people will kill me". In fact, since the deposition of the city's bosses, the merchants usually colluded with the houses of merchants on land or the houses of eunuchs, using them as intermediaries to sell their goods through them. Who knew that these noble houses and merchants often owed money to the merchants. In order to claim debts, the Wao Chamber of Commerce retaliated against merchants and eunuchs, killing and wounding them, and the eunuch houses used their status as official gentry to try to drive out the merchants and encourage the authorities to send troops to suppress the Wows.
However, these eunuch houses take the vain merchants as the source of interests, and naturally will not force them into a corner, so before the official government sends troops to suppress the bonobos, they leak the military strength of the official government and the date of dispatch to the bonobos in advance, and when the eunuchs come to trade again, the eunuch houses are still the same. Zhu Jun's actions to control the Wei Dynasty seriously damaged the interests of various forces in Fujian and Zhejiang, especially the noble officials' families, and led to impeachment. During his tenure as deputy assistant of the cabinet, Xu Jie attached great importance to the suppression of the Wakou, and his hometown was Songjiang Huating, and he was greatly affected by the Wokou, so he also knew more about the situation on the front line, and he believed that the merchants and people on the coast, because of the needs of trade, had very close contacts with the Wokou at sea, so the Wokou could take the opportunity to bribe them, "so that the eyes and ears are heard, so that my movements are all the thieves." This made the situation of the Ming government clearer, and when he landed, he was "like entering a no-man's land", and under the cover of merchants and people, he was even more elusive, and "coming and going was unpredictable".
Mingren Zhu Huan also mentioned the case of merchants and people Tongwa: Jiajing was twenty-three years old, the Wokou invaded the interior, Huang Shilong, Shiguang, Yu Zibin and other murderers "for their guides, robbed the big surname, drove away the people", "there is Lin Xide, this person is familiar with the path of everyone nearby", under their guidance, the Wokou looted unscrupulously, and every time they got something, so that the rich people in the city were very afraid of the Wokou, and they moved to the city one after another, making "the price of Kangshe increase several times".
In addition to merchants and people, there were also many Ming Dynasty officials and troops among the Tongwa, "those who offered red robes and jade belts such as General Zhang Siwei", "the five peaks are proficient, close to obeying the verbal, willing to be servants, and deliver goods for them", so if there is a Wokou landing, these officials and troops will also "send thieves" without interrogation. In June of the 34th year of Jiajing, Ruan Gonglu supervised the two Zhejiang provinces, and when he encountered thieves invading the provincial capital, he "personally supervised the door to prevent adultery", which shows that it is common for the army to harbor traitors.
Compared with the rampant Wokou, the official struggle of the Ming Dynasty to suppress the Wokou was blind and passive, which had a great correlation with its information blockade. First of all, when the Ming government lived on the island, the Ming government could not learn his information, "The husband and thief are deep in the ditch and the emperor, and they will never communicate with me, and I have nothing to do", and then "the military gate lives on the island with the sea and the sea is impermanent, and there is no false reality." Because it was impossible to know in advance the deployment of the Wokou's troops, the plundered places, and other information, whenever the Wokou landed and plundered the interior, the Ming government could not prevent it in advance; during or after the looting, the local "traitors" concealed information about the Wokou when the imperial court inquired about the thieves, deliberately misleading the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, "soldiers entering the place, inquiring about the situation of the thieves, asking for roads, and knowing that they were mistaken."
In the struggle against the Emperor, there are countless examples of official Ming dynasty defeats due to information blockages. For example, in the 34th day of Jiajing, on the 23rd, the vanguard Ding Zongrong garrisoned troops in Fang Jiao, "The thief braved the people to serve in front of the army: 'Kou to the end'", the Ming Dynasty officials and troops immediately listened to the erroneous information given by the Wokou, and did not send people to investigate and confirm the accuracy of the information, but took off their armor and took the container to wait for the meal, and at this moment, "the thieves fell up and covered, our division collapsed, and more than 1,000 people were raised. Ming Dynasty rebels even blamed the loss of the struggle caused by this information blockade on "Zhangbing selling themselves", such as the Battle of Mengjiayan in the thirty-third year of Jiajing
A total of 1,475 Ming officers and soldiers were killed or drowned, and most of the deputies at the time believed that this was not a strategic mistake, but because "the Zhangzhou soldiers sold themselves, and there were many Zhangren in the party", because the Zhangzhou soldiers secretly communicated with the Wokou, "causing them to set up ambushes, feint in battle, and help thieves to kill", and "thieves lured our army into ambush and attacked and killed on all sides". To a certain extent, this shows that the Ming Dynasty's anti-Yan army was not strong in internal and external information reconnaissance, could not find out the traitors in the army in time, could not prevent the ambush of the Wokou in time, and was in a state of passive greeting the enemy.
During the Jiajing period, the emperor was mediocre, the officialdom was corrupt, and Yan Song controlled the imperial government, formed a party for personal gain, and "introduced private residences everywhere." Under such a political situation, the anti-Yan generals who disagree with the Yan Party and politics on the front line will undoubtedly be impeached and persecuted, and coupled with the Yan Party's eagerness to make meritorious achievements, incidents of spreading false information about the Yan Party and impeaching and persecuting the Jing Waku generals often occur. Zhang Jing was a famous anti-Yan general during the Jiajing Jiajing period, and before he led the Jingwei, he had already achieved good results in the two Guangxi posts, and showed outstanding talent and courage. He worries about state affairs, "every time he hears that thieves are rampant, he is afraid for the country and for the public." During the period of Jiajing's reign, he was ordered to lead the Jingwei struggle in an overall situation. After Zhang Jing was impeached, because the anti-Yan soldiers had always believed in the prestige of Zhang Jing, so that the army's morale was dispersed, and the combat effectiveness was greatly reduced, then "the plague is new with each passing day", and the reason why Zhang Jing was wrongfully killed is not difficult to analyze, Yan Song was the chief assistant of the cabinet at the time, authoritarian and arbitrary, and there were many people attached to the dynasty, and Zhao Wenhua was deeply used because he married Yan Song as a father and son. Seeing that the plague was getting more and more serious, Yan Dang wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make meritorious efforts, so Zhao Wenhua went to the front line to inspect the situation under the guise of worshiping the sea god.
However, he did not know much about the situation and knew very little about the art of war, so in this case, Zhao Wenhua "did not ask about the terrain, urged day and night", and repeatedly urged Zhang Jing to suppress the thief. Zhang Jing, as the commander of the Jingwei, knew that the Wakou were cunning and numerous, and the troops mobilized from its province had not yet been assembled, and the time was not yet ripe to suppress the thieves, and if they lost, the consequences would be unimaginable, so Zhang Jing ignored Zhao Wenhua's words. This angered Zhao Wenhua, and he sent a secret impeachment to Emperor Jiajing, framing Zhang Jing for "raising money and money, repeatedly losing the opportunity to enter the army, confusing the general Tang Kekuan's fallacies, wanting to go out to the ocean with a full load, and repaying the merits of the remnants with sailors plundering the thieves, and it is appropriate to cure and relieve the great troubles in the southeast." However, just a few days after Zhao Wenhua's secret music was issued, Zhang Jing defeated the Wokou through careful deployment.
Seeing this, Zhao Wenhua immediately reported it, falsely claiming that this great victory was the merit of him and Hu Zongxian, and that this was the effect of their command of the Zhejiang soldiers to poison. Emperor Jiajing was convinced of his words, but ignored Zhang Jing's words, and ordered Zhang Jing and Tang Kekuan to be arrested and sentenced to death. Zhang Jingshang defended and said the truth of Wang Jiangjing's great victory, but "the emperor did not accept it in the end", and was finally beheaded in the city in October, "the whole world mourned", when "the dynasty knew its wrongs, and did not dare to play" Yu Dayou, as one of the bosses, was also belittled because Zhang Jing's case was implicated, and he angrily accused Zhao Wenhua of taking Wang Jiangjingzhijie for his own poisoning work, which was actually "helping each other with evil and deceiving the heavens and people."
Yu Dayou believed that Zhao Wenhua's move was based on the selfish intention of persecuting Gonggong, and he described the reasons for this great victory as follows: "The success of this move was actually caused by the first thief of Yongshun's army" Anger at the world's injustice, but also attracted some officials to seek justice for Zhang Jing and other anti-Yan generals, at that time, Yan Wangyun, Li Yongjing and other officials said: "Wang Shi is victorious, it is not suitable to be handsome", but Emperor Jiajing was furious when he heard of it, "'After deception and disloyalty, Wen Wenhua impeached, Fang Yi battle. With respect and other party traitors. So each man received fifty rods and was rebuked as a people." In July of the 34th year of Jiajing's reign, Zhao Wenhua impeached Li Tianpet, the governor of Zhejiang, and replaced him with Hu Zongxian, and the Jiajing Emperor even used Zhao Wenhua for his virtuous ability. It can be seen that the Yan Party persecuted the Jingwo generals for their meritorious work, but the Jiajing Emperor listened to the rumors in a confused manner, and many loyal courtiers were chilled, which not only left the Ming court without talents, but also greatly encouraged the arrogance of the Wokou.
During the Jiajing period, it was very common for some local officials to conceal or lie about their affairs because they had interests with wealthy tycoons and tycoons, or were misled by erroneous views on political performance. In the second year of Jiajing's reign, Li Chengxun stated in his performance that many local officials could not prevent the Wakou before they landed, and could not timely and effectively arrest the Wakou when they wantonly plundered, so they missed the opportunity to suppress the Wakou. Moreover, he believed that many of the reports of the local officials were untrue, "with various cover-ups and explanations, and the feelings were lenient and the crimes were not clear", and whenever the Woku invaded, the local officials "acted in the clouds, but also paid attention to the usual, so they repeatedly blocked the congratulations." Most of them are the answer of the song, that is, the following for a long time, "so that they poison the living beings, occupy the city, loot the treasury, burn the official palace, kill the generals, and humiliate the country and lose the prestige."
It can be seen that in the early days of Jiajing, there were many cases of local officials concealing the situation and causing serious property losses. During Yang Yi's tenure as the governor of Jingwei, he "wandered around Qiantang, feasted and drank with promises, and was happy if nothing happened"; since he was appointed to supervise the troops, the sergeant and doctor of the dynasty always paid attention to the situation on the front line, but unexpectedly, Yang Yi's performance was only late after two months, and there were many untruths, which also caused a lot of discussion in the government and the public.
Xu Jie mentioned this in "Fuyang Zhi'an", Yang Yi "selected and trained the township soldiers, and had no clue, while the former Shu Nai Yunxiang soldiers were available." The thief is on the seashore, and the soldiers of the two governors cannot win, and the former Shu Nai Yun thief has fled, and the cloud is in peace, and they participate in each other's schools, and they are involved in deception." In the 39th year of Jiajing, Liu Taoshang, an official of the Fujian imperial court, said that "the place is slightly calmer", and the inspector according to the Fujian imperial history Fan Xianke played "Fujian mountain thief, the wo and the yi rise together", and the two played contradictory feelings, and after the military department verified the facts, it was known that Liu Zhuo's performance was untrue, and if he did not verify the information and believed that "the place is slightly calm", he could not accurately grasp the local situation and make a timely strategy of the imperial wakou, allowing the wokou to wreak havoc, and delaying the opportunity to suppress the wakou, which was bound to cause greater social turmoil.
For example, the Jiajing Emperor once strictly stated that "the imperial envoys of the capital personally investigated the places and participated in the performance according to the facts", which shows that untrue participation of officials occurs from time to time, but due to political corruption and fierce party strife, the implementation of government decrees cannot be combined by many parties, and the results are very small, and there are still a large number of false information about the wakou, which seriously interferes with the imperial court's understanding and judgment of the situation of the wakou, and then greatly weakens the correctness and timeliness of the decision to resist the wakou.