1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 695 The Predicament of Shibazhi
At the same time, Magong Port in Penghu, about [-] nautical miles away from Kinmen Island.

The three bird boats slowly approached the shore, and the foreman on the shore shouted to his men to fasten the cables thrown from the boat and build a springboard to prepare for unloading.More than a dozen mules, horses and carts were already parked at the pier, and they seemed to be waiting for loading.

The captain of the boat didn't wait for the gangway to be set up, he went down to the bank in three steps at a time, knelt down on one leg and said to a young man on the bank: "My subordinate delayed the trip, I hope Lord Bao will forgive me!"

"I promised to return in seven days, but it took more than half a month to leave. If you come back a few days late, I'm afraid the island will be ruined!" expression.

The captain of the boat did not dare to stand up, and replied with his head down, "Lord Bao doesn't know something. Now the whole territory of Fujian is sealed off, and the rice shops in various places are being watched by the yamen, and the sales of more than a thousand catties have to be reported to the yamen. The subordinates are worried that their identities will be leaked, so they can only slowly search all the coastal states and counties, looking for places where they can buy and sell grain without registration."

"Oh? That's how it is... have you bought the grain?" The young man's face turned slightly better after hearing the explanation.

"The subordinates went all the way north from Xinghua Prefecture, Fuzhou, and Funing Prefecture, until they arrived at Yueqing, Wenzhou, and finally bought food through the relationship." The boss of the boat also took the opportunity to show his credit for himself, and explained the reason for the late return: "Because of the stops and stops along the way, it was delayed for so long."

"I didn't buy rice until Wenzhou..." Hearing this, the young man frowned.In the past, if you went to the mainland to purchase grain, you only needed to go to Funing Prefecture at most, but now you have to go to Zhejiang to buy it.

"Not only that, the Fujian Navy is also checking the ships in the waters near Funing Prefecture. It is said that the checks on ships coming from Zhejiang are particularly strict. The subordinates think that this should be because the government wants to cut off the sea channel for us to get supplies from Zhejiang." The boss of the ship continued. reported.

"It's okay, just take a longer detour on the sea. The sea is so big, how can the government seal it off!" The young man pretended to be relaxed.

With the limited strength of the Fujian Navy, it is of course impossible to seal off the entire waterway in the Taiwan Strait. As long as you have the heart, you can easily avoid government inspections if you don't take the near-shore route, but the cost and risk of transportation will naturally increase accordingly.And those shipping companies that were willing to undertake the transportation task will also shrink back because of the actions of the government. In the future, if they want to purchase materials, they will probably have to send their own ships to transport them back. This will definitely further increase their own transportation capacity burden.

However, no matter how troublesome this kind of bulk purchase is, it cannot be stopped. Penghu’s local agricultural development is not high, coupled with the limited land area, food production cannot be self-sufficient. There are a total of more than 2 people on the Penghu Islands, and at least half of them People need to buy food from outside to maintain themselves, and the amount needed this year is really not a small amount.Such operations of sending fleets to the mainland for large-scale grain purchases are carried out almost once or twice a month, but recently, it seems that it has become more and more difficult to purchase materials from the mainland.

After the Zhangzhou assassination, the Fujian government gradually tightened the supply of livelihood materials in the coastal areas, and began to monitor the bulk trading of commodities such as grain, pig iron, salt, medicinal materials, and cloth, and limited the upper limit of private transactions.For those commercial firms with complicated backgrounds that cannot be trusted by the government, special personnel are even sent to guard them, so as to prevent them from selling materials to Shibazhi in private.Although these methods cannot completely ban Shibazhi from buying supplies from the mainland, they have indeed caused a lot of troubles, and this time the fleet went out to buy food, which is only one of them.

For such a situation, Zheng Zhilong, the leader of Shibazhi, naturally saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart.The fleet that went to the mainland to buy grain has not returned after the agreed date, but the grain storage capacity on the island is decreasing day by day at a rate visible to the naked eye. It would be a lie to say that Zheng Zhilong is not panicking.The young man who came to the wharf fleet was Zheng Zhilong's fifth younger brother Zheng Zhibao.

Although Zheng Zhibao's name sounds mighty, he is different from his elder brothers who are pirate leaders in his family. He is a scholar. He studied county school in Nan'an County, Quanzhou in his early years.Although he has no fame and is just an ordinary student, but in the group of Shibazhi, he can already be regarded as a cultural person.In the original history, in the Hongguang period of the late Ming Dynasty, that is, after Zhu Yousong, a descendant of King Fu, was proclaimed emperor in Nanjing, Zheng Zhibao was once conferred the title of prince and grand teacher, and the title of Duke of Chengji was added. Made a name for himself in troubled times.However, Zheng Zhibao was not a person with solid integrity, and later followed Zheng Zhilong to surrender to the Qing court, and then he never lived a good life.

However, in this time and space where the Haihan people have intervened, it is probably very difficult for the Zheng brothers to have the opportunity to interact with the Tartars in the north.Because judging from the current development situation, it is unlikely that they will last until the time when the Tatars move south.

Zheng Zhibao didn't wait for all the grain to be unloaded and put into the warehouse, and hurried back to the camp to report to Zheng Zhilong.Of course, the more important thing is that he must tell Zheng Zhilong the news that the boss of the boat brought back from the outside as soon as possible. Shibazhi can no longer just sit back and watch the situation deteriorate like this.

"Xu Xinsu wants to cut off our food, it's not that easy!" After listening to the description, Zheng Zhilong put down the brush in his hand, raised his head and said to Zheng Zhibao: "I have ordered people to go to Ningbo, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Hangzhou and other places to ask the local rice merchants Purchase grain. Xu Xinsu is the local emperor in Fujian, does he still care about getting Zhejiang?"

"Brother is far-sighted!" Zheng Zhibao flattered him first, and then expressed his worries: "It's just that the flight from Penghu to Zhejiang is far away, and the travel time is two or three times longer than that of other places along the coast of Fujian. The purchase of bulk goods The risks and shipping costs are also much higher. If this is the case for a long time, it will be a big drag.”

"Now Xu Xinsu is powerful, and there are Haihan people who are helping him, and the red-haired man can't stand it at a critical moment, and my brother is also worried about this situation." Zheng Zhilong didn't hide his worries too much in front of his brother: " If it was a few years ago, my brother would not be afraid of the methods of the Fujian government. At worst, he would go ashore and grab it. But now there are fewer and fewer villages willing to attach to us. It's even more inconvenient."

"How about...negotiating peace with Haihan?" Zheng Zhibao made an extremely sensitive suggestion.This method was also mentioned earlier, but after Zheng Zhihu killed Nanri Island, no one mentioned it again.Only people like Zheng Zhibao dared to mention this matter in front of him.

"Negotiate peace?" Zheng Zhilong glanced at his brother, stood up slowly, walked to the window, and sighed after a long time: "Brother, it's not that I haven't thought about making peace, but the Haihan people don't know what considerations they have. I am willing to accept the negotiation and make peace."

"Brother, have you... already tried it?" Zheng Zhibao immediately responded.

"That's right." Zheng Zhilong nodded and said, "Brother Wei has asked someone to convey his intention to negotiate a peace with the Haihan people more than once, but he has not been able to get their consent."

"What kind of harsh conditions did the Haihan people put forward?" Zheng Zhibao asked curiously as it was the first time he heard his brother mention this matter.

"All the leaders of Shibazhi need to go to Zhangzhou and surrender themselves." Zheng Zhilong replied with a sullen face: "In this way, they can guarantee to save us a life. As for other conditions, we will not discuss it."

"This group of self-righteous thieves!" Zheng Zhibao was furious when he heard it, and he scolded in a hurry without caring about his identity: "They really think that I, Shibazhi Shangwanerlang, can't be caught without a fight?"

"What the Haihan people want is not our surrender, but the complete disappearance of Shibazhi." Zheng Zhilong said slowly: "It's me, it's you, their goal is to arrest us, the leaders of Shibazhi. The Eighteen Zhis have no leader, and it will be much easier for them to deal with it."

"If they have made up their minds like this, then there is really no need for further negotiations." After hearing these words, Zheng Zhibao had already given up on this solution.

"There is indeed no room for negotiation with the Haihan people. These people are too ambitious..." Zheng Zhilong shook his head slowly.

"Then how about we surrender to the Fujian government? The younger brother refers to the governor." Zheng Zhibao thought for a while and came up with another idea.

"It might have been okay two years ago, but now...it's too late." Zheng Zhilong said with some regrets: "Lord Xiong did reveal his intention to recruit us before, but in the past two years Xu Xinsu has gradually gained momentum, and the battle situation has gained the upper hand again. The Fujian government has no pressure, so naturally they don’t want to take the trouble to recruit us. Think about it, if we recruit, the Fujian government will have an extra [-] to [-] mouths, so it’s better to let Xu Xinsu kill us and save money and trouble.”

Zheng Zhilong's tone was calm, as if he was talking about something completely irrelevant to him, but Zheng Zhibao could feel his brother's almost irrepressible resentment under his calm appearance.Since Shibazhi's uprising, it is really the most difficult period at present. Being suppressed by foreign enemies, the sphere of influence has been gradually reduced. Now even the most basic food and grass supply has become a problem.If there is still no effective solution, then Shibazhi's demise is indeed not far away.

"Brother, can we just sit and wait like this?" Zheng Zhibao also knew that his current strength could no longer launch a large-scale attack on Zhangquan and other places, but he didn't want to be suppressed in Penghu and waited. The opponent wraps the noose around his neck round and round.

"It's not like we have nowhere to go." Zheng Zhilong replied, "Speaking closer, we can retreat to Dayuan Island, but if we retreat from Penghu, this place will be immediately taken by the Ming and Haihan people. , and it is less than a day's flight from the nearest point to Dayuan Island, they will come after them sooner or later."

"My younger brother also thinks that it is inappropriate to withdraw to Dayuan Island. There are red-haired people in the south, Folangji people in the north, and native people who are difficult to domesticate in the mountainous areas in the east. If you add the Haihan militia stationed in Penghu in the west, it is indeed true. It’s hard to gain a foothold.” Zheng Zhibao agreed with his brother’s point of view on this matter.

"East and west are not feasible, so if you want to withdraw, you can only consider north and south." Zheng Zhilong stopped in front of a chart on the wall, and pointed to the map: "Go south, The optional place is Luzon Island, but it is also the territory of the Frangji people. I am afraid that it will be difficult for us to be allowed to settle there. Going north, to Ryukyu, there is a chance. The Ryukyu country’s military strength is not strong. On the next two big islands, they have nothing to do with us. But the bigger problem is that the local arable land and population are not large, and it is also a problem to feed so many people.”

Zheng Zhibao stared at the chart for a while, and then said quietly: "The world is so big, there is almost no room for shelter."

Zheng Zhilong persuaded: "Fifth brother, don't be discouraged. When I went to my uncle in Haojingao to study business ten years ago, my family property was nothing more than a few clothes. Thousands of people, have you ever thought that in a few years, you will be able to run rampant in Fuguang, beating up the officers and soldiers? Even if we move out of Penghu and go to other places, will it be as difficult as when we started? As long as we avoid the current strong Enemy, if we change places, we might not be able to make a comeback. Maybe in a few more years, we will make a comeback again! Let alone Fujian, you and my brothers will lead troops southward together, and go straight to the old lair of the Haihan people!"

After hearing these words, Zheng Zhibao felt a little relieved, cupped his hands and said: "Brother taught me the lesson, I shouldn't be so negative. If we can change places to develop, Shibazhi may really be able to find a new life."

Zheng Zhilong's words are beautiful, but he himself knows that things are not so easy to do.So many people want to move overseas, it doesn’t mean that they can leave right away, the preparatory work that needs to be done in the early stage is very complicated, and the materials needed for relocation are also an astonishing amount, even if there are many ships under Shibazhi’s name, I'm afraid it won't be able to be shipped in one or two trips.And if the news leaks out during this period, and the fleet of the Fujian Navy and the Haihan people catches up to the door, it will be really troublesome.

Taking a step back, even if you are really optimistic about the place and plan to move, how many people in Shibazhi can be with you and are willing to move overseas and continue to work together?As far as Zheng Zhilong knows, the various opinions among the big bosses of Shibazhi have never been unified. Some want to fight to the death with their opponents, some want to surrender for safety, and some even reveal that they will go directly to Dayuan Island to join Hongmao The thoughts of a person or a Frangipulator.Once the big tree of Shibazhi is about to fall, it is really hard to say how many of these people will follow him.

Zheng Zhilong's plan for the present can only be to try to appease the people under him. Only with his own family members who are related by blood like Zheng Zhibao, can he dare to reveal his true plan.

(End of this chapter)