Japanese Silver Attracted Foreign Smugglers (3)

      Zheng Ruoceng (1503-1570) was born at Kunshan, Jiangsu Province.  He finished writing and composing “Chouhai Tubian” (Maritime Strategy and Charts) in 1561.  It was published in 1562 under the support from Hu Zongxian (1512-1565).  Zheng Shungong’s “Riben Yijian” and Zheng Ruoceng’s “Chouhai Tubian” both aimed for eliminating Wokou.  They were respectively supported by Yang Yi and Hu Zongxian, who were both high officers in southern China.  Yet they could not work together.  They seem to have suspected that others were conspiring with Wokou to gain profits.  Even Hu, who replaced Yang, was later suspected of collusion, was purged, and had to kill himself in jail.  Can Hu Jintao (1942-), a direct descendant of Hu Zongxian and Ex-President of People’s Republic of China, survive today’s purges?

     From song Dynasty on, the dominant class in China had been landed gentries.  Once they passed the Imperial examinations, they could make high-ranking officers of the central government.  There, they played power games to get promoted and to maximize their family profits.  They would retire, once one of their sons passed the Imperial examinations.  They would retreat to their own estate, and concentrate on managing their estate to maximize their family profits.

     One way to maximize their family profits was to patronize and protect smugglers against local authorities.  As the ex-officers of the central government, or as a father of the current officers, the gentries were rich and powerful enough to bribe and scare local authorities into overlooking smugglers.