140 Boundaries and Beyond
quantities of sappanwood or pepper that exceeded a thousand catties.^187
Nevertheless, Provincial Administration Commissioner Wu Tingju during
the Zhengde Reign and Grand Coordinator Lin Fu of Guangdong in the
early Jiajing reign preferred to deal with shortages of supply at the root.
In their view, to satisfy the demand of the Court for foreign merchandise,
a more βlexible policy toward the Supervisorate System was needed.^188
With the realization of the deteriorating condition of coastal security
after the mid-1540s, an intensive discussion of maritime affairs was
resumed, leading to Zhu Wan’s appointment as Governor of Zhejiang cum
Min-Zhe Coastal Defense Inspector-General in 1547. The contention that
Zhu owed his appointment to Grand Secretary Xia Yan and that the latter’s
downfall had a profound effect on his career^189 needs to be scrutinized. In
the βirst place, doubts arise because Xia’s case does not seem to have had
immediate repercussions on Zhu’s position, since his request for clear-
cut authority over coastal affairs, including the command of troops, was
granted by the Court on June 4, 1548,^190 almost one month after the death
sentence had been imposed on Xia.^191 Furthermore, on October 30, 1548,
some three months after his own demotion, Zhu was rewarded with
silver cash on the recommendation of the Board of War for his conduct
of the successful military campaign in late March of that same year.^192
Sufβice it to say that his appointment was an outcome of the Court’s
concern about coastal defense and the need for a tougher policy toward
maritime disturbances. Therefore, his downfall was more the outcome of
his legal impropriety than of any political intrigues.
No doubt, Zhu Wan took his duty seriously. He was also a very
competent and upright ofβicial. In mid-November 1547, during his βirst
tour of duty in southern Fujian, he took prompt action to suppress a
bandit group in Tong’an, although many of the captives later paid bribes
to escape punishment. Zhu carried out a probe into local affairs that
aroused discomposure and resentment among both ofβicials and elite
families.^193 This experience surely had great bearing on his merciless
dealing with the later groups of captives.
In 1547, a Japanese embassy with four ships and six hundred men
under Sakugen Shuryo arrived off Ningbo in advance of the approved
schedule. On December 31 the Court referred the case to Zhu Wan, who
- Such ban is mentioned under the entry of May 10, 1524 in MSL: SZ, 38: 4b‒5a.
- Ming shi, juan 325, “Folangji”, pp. 8430, 8432.
- Higgins, “Piracy”, p. 179.
- MSL: SZ, 335: 7a.
- Ibid., 335: 1a‒b.
- Ibid., 340: 7a.
- Higgins, “Piracy”, pp. 172‒5.
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