ordered Zhang Jing's arrest on June 5. The Grand Coordinator of Zhejiang, Li Tianchong, was also arrested for his incompetence and the two of them were executed together on November 12. Zhang Jing's replacement, Zhou Chong (周珫), had his powers greatly limited compared to his predecessor. Instead of the 6 coastal provinces under Zhang Jing's command, Zhou Chong's was limited to only the Southern Metropolitan Region, Zhejiang, and Fujian. The investigating censor of military affairs in Zhejiang, Hu Zongxian, was promoted to Li Tianchong's position of grand coordinator. Hu was promoted even higher to supreme commander in April 1556, after Zhou Chong and his successor Yang Yi (楊宜) were cashiered after less than a year in service due to their underwhelming performance. Supreme Commander Hu Zongxian and the raid of 1556 A policy of appeasement Compared to the short appointments of his predecessors, Hu Zongxian remained in power until 1563. His longevity as supreme commander, and indeed his meteoric rise, were due in part to his association with Zhao Wenhua's clique. Zhao Wenhua was opposed to a strict enforcement of the maritime prohibitions like the ones carried out by Zhu Wan, and instead favoured opening trade as the means to solve the wokou problem. Hu Zongxian, in turn, carried out a policy of appeasement despite his subordinates' disapproval and the emperor's orders to capture Wang Zhi dead or alive. Even before he had become supreme commander, Hu Zongxian sent envoys to Japan in his capacity as grand coordinator ostensibly to request assistance from Japanese authorities, but in fact to establish contact with Wang Zhi to entice him to surrender. Drawn by the prospect of legal trade, Wang Zhi agreed to clean the shores of Zhejiang of pirates in return for a pardon. As a gesture of goodwill, he sent his adopted son Mao Haifeng (毛海峰) to Hu Zongxian while one of Hu's envoys stayed in Japan. Wang Zhi also warned Hu that one of the pirate leaders in his consortium, Xu Hai, was on his way to raid Zhejiang again and Wang was not able to stop him in time. This was alarming news to Hu as it severely disrupted his plans of appeasement, and also he had only about 10,000 men under his command — Zhao Wenhua had disbanded the aboriginal troops that Zhang Jing had assembled after the victory at Wangjiangjing, believing the situation was under control. Far