Entry
Wan-li: Year 6, Month 9, Day 11
11 Oct 1578
Guang Mao, a supervising secretary in the Office of Scrutiny for War, memorialized: "The pirate Lin Dao-qian has brought his ships and anchored in He-du-men Port in Chao-yang, and the bandit followers were instructed to prepare reports. Some persons who had escaped after having been carried off said that they had been taken in the sixth year of the Wan-li reign (1578), and that the pirates had attacked the "black-crow" ships of the country of Siam but were unsuccessful. A large number of the pirate forces were killed and the remainder were driven off by the fan. As they lacked silver and lacked men, they proposed returning to their old haunt at He-du-men to recover the silver and goods previously buried there. They also proposed attacking the various battalions under Hai-men, and when the Eastern wind changed, returning to the foreign yi. This bandit's plans are cunning. If he surrenders and delays our troops he will be able to easily use his old haunts. If he wishes to be brought to negotiated pacification and does not engage in pillage, he will be able to move secretly and seek out opportunities for trouble. It is feared that the officials in charge, being anxious to put an end to the disorders, will be willing to accept the surrender plan. If they fall for his trick, it will lead to no small disaster. It is requested that the Ministry of War be Imperially ordered to send an urgent courier with instructions for transmission to the supreme commander and other officials, requiring them to make plans by which to completely eliminate this scourge and to set a date on which to combine their forces. They should be required to make secure plans so that success can be achieved at the beat of the drum. When the chief rebels are eliminated, careful arrangements should be made so that the pirate followers are swayed and dispersed. Thereby, the region will return to peace." The ministry re-submitted a memorial supporting the proposals.
Shen-zong: juan 79.3a-b
Zhong-yang Yan-jiu yuan Ming Shi-lu, volume 100, page 1693/94
Preferred form of citation for this entry:
Geoff Wade, translator, Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu: an open access resource, Singapore: Asia Research Institute and the Singapore E-Press, National University of Singapore, http://epress.nus.edu.sg/msl/reign/wan-li/year-6-month-9-day-11, accessed January 22, 2019